


Erotomania

by HopeMikaelsonClarke



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - All Human, F/M, Non-Consensual Touching, Protective Ryan, Someone gets a beat down, elements of non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:27:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 44,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22296322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeMikaelsonClarke/pseuds/HopeMikaelsonClarke
Summary: Beauty, power, money. Some can separate the person from their position in society. While in others, it inspires madness.
Relationships: Josie Saltzman/Milton "MG" Greasley, Lizzie Saltzman/Kaleb Hawkins, Ryan Clarke/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

Erotomania  
Chapter 1  
\--  
 **Summary:** Beauty, power, money. Some can separate the person from their position in society. While in others, it inspires madness.  
 **Disclaimer:** I don’t own Legacies, or the song that this story is loosely based off of, which is Rude by MAGIC!. This is an AH/AU story to Legacies, and therefore Hope, and all of her friends are the same age, and all attend University together where Ryan is a TA for one of their classes.  
 **Erotomania:** A delusion in which a person believes that another person (typically of higher social status) is in love with them.  
\--  
Hope and her friends were hanging out in the back of their last class of the day. Despite having 7 different majors among her group of friends, all of them had gotten the same elective course to fill their schedules for the semester. But Hope rarely paid attention to the class itself. It was boring, and the professor always went off topic on things that never pertained to the class anyway. Instead, Hope usually entertained herself by making faces at the TA, Ryan.

He was a few years older, and he was Hope’s friend, Landon’s, older half-brother. Everyone in her group of friends knew about Hope’s crush on the older male… except, it seemed, Landon. At first, Hope had tried to keep it to herself, but her friends knew her too well, and when she started finding excuses to show up to class early, or stay later, or show up for Ryan’s “office hours”, they knew she had fallen hard for him. But, she never actually outright told any of her friends, so as far as Hope knew, they didn’t actually know, and none of them brought it up.

But Landon… Landon clearly didn’t know Hope as well as the rest of their friends did. But on this particular night, Hope had lingered at the end of class, waiting for Ryan to be done talking to the professor, and her friends hung back with her. Josie and Lizzie were looking between Hope and Ryan, while Kaleb, MG and Rafael just smirked at Hope. Landon was completely oblivious. Hope was trying to be inconspicuous about her glances in Ryan’s direction, but every time she glanced at him, he was glancing at her, and she quickly turned back to her friends. When Ryan was done with his conversation, he made his way over to the group.

“Either you all really love this lame class, or you all need a ride.” Ryan commented with a smirk as he threw an arm over Hope’s shoulders.

“Are you offering us a ride?” Hope asked.

“Well, you see, when three pretty girls wait around at night, they usually want a ride somewhere. And since I know for a fact none of these four have a car, I’m the only one in a position to offer a ride.” Ryan replied. “Unless in the 12 hours since I drove Landon to school this morning, one of you boys miraculously acquired a vehicle… legally?” He added.

“Why do you have to bring that up all the time?” Landon asked as he eyed his brother’s arm around Hope’s shoulders. “Mom is saving up to get me a car.” He added.

“Right, and Dad will stop being a deadbeat father. Grow up, Little Brother. You want a car of your own, you have to pay for it yourself.” Ryan said as he started leading Hope and the others towards the exit.

“Is anyone else famished?” Kaleb asked.

“Starving. I haven’t eaten since lunch.” Hope agreed, trying to keep cool about Ryan’s arm still draped over her shoulder, but seeing Lizzie and Josie giggling behind their hands out of the corner of her eye.

“Pizza’s on my, kiddos. Hop in.” Ryan said as he opened the passenger door to his SUV for Hope and offering her his hand to help her up.

By the time Landon got to the car, the only spot left was in the very back seat, next to Josie. Trying to imitate his brother’s calm demeanor, Landon draped his arm across the back of the seat and lightly rubbed Josie’s shoulder with his thumb as he watched Hope and Ryan’s animated conversation up front.

“Um, Landon? Can you, can you stop rubbing my shoulder? It’s making me uncomfortable.” Josie said.

“Hands to yourself, Little Brother. This car as a PG rating.” Ryan said, glancing in the rearview mirror.

“Sorry.” Landon mumbled as he pulled his arm back.

When they got to the pizza parlor, Landon tried to move closer to Hope, but Ryan had once again tucked Hope into his side, and MG was rambling about something on her other side. Landon couldn’t get close enough, so he hung back with Rafael.

“Bro, come on. Your brother is getting us pizza; why are you moping?” Rafael asked.

“Why does Ryan always have to go for the girl that I like? And why isn’t Hope pushing him away? He’s too old for her.” Landon whined.

“Your brother is not that much older than us, Hobbit. He’s 26, we’re all 20.” Lizzie commented, appearing out of nowhere next to Rafael.

“And as far as ‘going for the girl you like’; he hasn’t made a move on her, bro. He’s just being friendly.” Rafael added.

“Yeah, none of that is helpful guys.” Landon commented bitterly.

Once they had ordered, the group found a big enough table and sat down before resuming conversations. Ryan sat with his back against the wall, his legs on either side of the bench, and Hope sat next to him.

“Tell me, kiddos, what was the takeaway from class tonight?” Ryan asked.

“You getting us pizza and driving us all home.” Lizzie replied.

“Very funny, Lizzie. But I’m serious… what was today’s lesson about?” Ryan asked and leaned forward just enough to discreetly run his fingers over Hope’s thigh, just below the hem of her skirt.

“Is this a trick question, man? That old geezer never actually finishes explaining anything.” Kaleb pointed out.

Hope couldn’t focus on the conversation. All she could focus on was Ryan’s fingers lightly massaging her thigh. She desperately wanted him to slide his hand between her legs and start finger fucking her right there at the table. But he seemed content to just have skin to skin contact. When he dug his fingers a little bit deeper into her skin, Hope’s breath caught in her throat and Josie and Lizzie gave her an odd look. One that she responded to by shifting her eyes to Ryan, then quickly down to her lap, before looking back at the twins. With a matching smirk at their friend, the twins started whispering to each other.

“What about you, Miss Mikaelson?” Ryan asked in a low voice, directly in her ear, causing Hope to jump slightly.

“What about me, what?” Hope breathed out.

“What was your takeaway from tonight’s lesson?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t have one. The TA kept distracting me with silly faces. I couldn’t focus on what the professor was saying.” Hope said.

“Well that just won’t do.” Ryan replied with a small smile. “I guess you’ll have to come to my office hours again before the next class so we go over the information that was hidden in the lecture today. Wouldn’t want you to fall behind because you think I’m pretty.” He added while he trailed his fingers down to her knee and squeezing it.

“I never said I thought you were pretty.” Hope commented.

“But you did say that I was distracting.” Ryan pointed out. “That’s close enough.”

Hope took a sharp breath as Ryan moved his hand to her inner thigh and gave it a squeeze before moving away from her. She was going to be imagining his hands doing all sorts of things to her body that night. For Ryan, the proximity he had just had Hope in had him turning to face the table once the pizza arrived, so as to hide his arousal.

Once everyone finished eating, they all piled back into Ryan’s SUV and he drove them home. After dropping everyone else off, leaving only himself, Hope and Landon in the car, Ryan pulled up in front of his and Landon’s house and gave Landon a hard look in the review mirror.

“Out, Little Brother.” Ryan demanded.

“Shouldn’t we drop Hope off first?” Landon asked as he leaned forward between the front seats.

“We came to our house first, now, get, out.” Ryan repeated.

As Landon took his time grabbing his stuff and getting out of the car, Hope sat in the front seat, playing with the hem of her skirt. She could still feel the heat and pressure from Ryan’s hand on her thigh, and she could help thinking that he had purposefully taken the route that he had to drop everyone off so that they could be alone. Images of Ryan pulling her into his lap and having his way with her flashed in Hope’s mind and she couldn’t help the soft, almost inaudible, moan that escaped her lips as the images played on a loop. Once Landon had finally gotten out of the car, and had gone inside, Ryan pulled away from the curb and headed towards Hope’s house.

“You look beautiful today, Hope.” Ryan commented.

“Thank you.” Hope replied with a smile. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She added as her eyes roamed his body.

“So you do think I’m pretty. I knew it.” Ryan said with a smirk.

“I still didn’t say that, Ry.”

“Oh, you most certainly did, Hope. And my ego thanks you for boost.”

Hope rolled her eyes as Ryan winked at her. She was just starting to think that the night couldn’t end any better when Ryan pulled off of the main road, just before Hope’s street, and turned the car off.

“Ryan… what are you doing?” Hope asked slowly.

“Did my actions tonight at the pizza parlor cross a line?” Ryan questioned.

“No, of course not. If you had done anything that I was uncomfortable with, you would have been sporting a broken wrist.” Hope replied.

“Good, that’s good. Because I never want to make you feel uncomfortable, Hope. So if I ever do, just tell me, yeah?”

“Of course, Ry.”

Leaning across the center console, Hope pressed a quick kiss to Ryan’s cheek. Once she had settled back into her seat, Ryan started the car again and took Hope’s hand in his to give it a light squeeze. When he pulled up to Hope’s house a minute later, Ryan turned the car off again and got out, moving to the passenger side to help Hope down.

“You don’t have to walk me to the door, Ry.” Hope said.

“I’m a gentleman, Hope. I was raised to walk a girl to her front door when I drop her off at the end of the night. Especially when it’s a pretty girl.” Ryan replied.

“You didn’t walk Lizzie and Josie to their front door.” Hope pointed out.

“True, I didn’t. But MG lives next door to them, and I made sure that he made sure they got inside before I pulled away from the curb.” Ryan agreed.

“Do you have any plans over the weekend?” Hope asked as she shifted her book bag on her shoulder.

“Just work. You?” Ryan volleyed as he brushed a lock of Hope’s hair behind her ear.

“Studying. Family dinner. Probably being dragged to the mall by Lizzie.” Hope replied. “Maybe getting to see you?”

“Tell you what… if your family dinner gets to be too much or too boring, you call or text me, and I’ll come rescue you.”

“What if being dragged to the mall by Lizzie becomes too torturous?”

“I’ll just happen to cross your path.”

“Keep your phone close by, Clarke. I might just have to take you up on your offer.”

“For you, Miss Mikaelson, I’ll always keep my phone close by.”

When they finally made it to her front door, Hope wrapped her arms around Ryan’s waist and pressed her body as close to his as she could. Ryan wrapped his arms around Hope’s shoulders and was contemplating pressing a kiss to her forehead when the front door flew open, and Hope’s father, Klaus Mikaelson, stood in the doorway with an amused look on his face.

“Dean Mikaelson, always a pleasure seeing you.” Ryan said as he and Hope quickly pulled away from each other.

“Ryan, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Klaus when not on campus?” Klaus questioned with a smirk.

“Sorry Sir, force of habit.” Ryan replied before he glanced at Hope who was biting her lower lip.

“Apology accepted. Thank you for making sure Hope got home safely.” Klaus said as he stepped to the side so that Hope could step inside.

“Any time. I’d hate if anything happened to her.” Ryan replied before promptly closing his mouth before he said something inappropriate.

“Goodnight, Ryan.” Hope said.

“Goodnight, Hope. Goodnight, Sir.” Ryan replied with a nod.

After watching Ryan walk back to his car before closing the front door, Hope turned around and ran upstairs. She was not up for her dad’s teasing tonight. Upon reaching her room, Hope closed and locked her door, stripped down to just her bra and panties and grabbed her vibrator. Grabbing her phone from her bag, Hope pulled up the only picture of Ryan that she had and turned her vibrator on. He had gotten her all worked up and he didn’t even know it. As she pleasured herself, Hope’s thoughts wandered to Ryan and what he was doing.

**Legacies - Erotomania - Legacies**

When Ryan got home, he headed straight to his room, ignoring Landon and Seylah’s attempts to talk to him and find out what seemed to be the matter. As soon as his door was close behind him, he scrolled through his pictures until her found his favorite one of Hope. He knew that he shouldn’t be doing this. Spending yet another night jacking off to a mere picture of Hope. He knew that he should just tell her how he felt and pray that she felt the same way. But he didn’t want to open himself up to rejection. Hope was the Dean’s daughter. Her family founded, not only the University, but the town surrounding it as well. He wanted more than anything to be with Hope, but she was out of his league. So he had no choice but to settle for just being in her life in any capacity, and jacking off to a picture of her in a bikini.


	2. Chapter 2

Erotomania  
Chapter 2  
\--  
When Hope woke up the following morning, she groaned. It was too early for her phone to be ringing incessantly. She had every intention of ignoring it, thinking that it was possibly Lizzie, but when she rolled over and grabbed it off the charger, she saw that it was an incoming video chat from Ryan. Glancing down at her nearly naked state, Hope scrambled off her bed to grab her robe before answering the call.

“ **I called to see you, Hope. Not your bedroom ceiling.** ” Ryan commented.

“Give me a sec, Ry. Your call woke me up.” Hope commented as she pulled the robe on.

“ **What? You don’t want me to see what you wear to bed?** ” Ryan asked, and Hope could hear the smirk in his voice.

“More like lack of.” Hope muttered.

“ **I didn’t catch that, Hope, will you please repeat yourself?** ” Ryan teased.

“Absolutely not.” Hope snapped as she picked up her phone from the bed and gave him a smile. “Better?” She asked.

“ **I really did wake you up, didn’t I?** ” Ryan questioned.

“Damn you, Ryan Clarke.” Hope said as she leaned over to her nightstand to grab her brush. “Is there a reason you’re calling me at 6 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday?” She asked.

“ **Do I need a reason?** ” Ryan asked. “ **Maybe I just wanted to talk to the pretty girl that I drove home last night.** ”

“You call me that a lot, Ry.” Hope commented.

“ **Because it’s true. You are absolutely beautiful, Hope. Any guy would be lucky to have you.** ” Ryan said.

“Hm... well, there’s only one guy that I’m interested in, and I don’t think he actually likes me the way that I like him.” Hope said with a frown as she put her brush down and leaned forward a little bit towards where her phone was resting.

“ **His loss.** ”

Ryan’s eyes darted down from Hope’s face when he realized that she was leaning forward. He couldn’t see much, but from where her robe had fallen open slightly, he could see the swell of her breasts, and he had to fight back a groan which turned into a small coughing fit. Hope frowned and tilted her head.

“You okay, Ry?”

“ **Yeah, sorry. I swallowed and some saliva went down the wrong pipe. But anyway... back to why I called. Is today studying and your family dinner, or possibly being dragged to the mall by Lizzie?** ” Ryan asked.

“Studying and family dinner. What time do you have to work?”

“ **Not until tonight. Maybe if you me wanted to, I could come over and help you study?** ” Ryan offered, and Hope noticed a wishful look in his eyes.

“I’d like that. Come by around 8?” Hope agreed while biting her lip.

“ **It’s a date.** ” Ryan said with a smirk. “ **See you in a couple hours.** ”

Hope nodded as the video chat ended. She quickly dropped her phone onto the bed as she thought about what she had just agreed to. She was having a study date with Ryan. She had a system to how she usually studied, and there was a huge chance that Ryan would just end up distracting her instead of helping her study, but it was worth it. She hoped. It’s not like her own father would kick her out of school for having less than perfect grades. Klaus was constantly telling her that all he wanted for her was to enjoy her classes, do well, and have fun. So this would be new, but she liked trying new things. Getting off of her bed, Hope grabbed a change of clothes from her dresser and made her way to her bathroom. However, her path was blocked when she opened her bedroom door by her father who had a hand raised to knock. He gave her a smirk and Hope pushed her way around him.

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about it last night. You’re not getting out of this conversation now, young lady.” Klaus commented.

“Actually, Dad, I need to take a shower. Ryan will be here in a couple of hours to help me study.” Hope said.

“I heard.” Klaus said. “And while you know how much I love teasing you about this little crush of yours, that’s not what I was referring to. You were out late last night, and you didn’t call or text me to let me know where you were.” He elaborated. “Then when you do get home, I open the door to see you with Ryan. Did something happen between the two of you?” He asked.

“No, Dad. Nothing has happened between me and Ryan. I’m not even sure that he likes me the way I like him. After class last night, Ryan drove the whole group out for pizza, and then drove us all home. The route that he took had him dropping me off last.” Hope said. “Now if you excuse me...” She said while pushing the bathroom door closed.

“Hope, remember that we have dinner with the rest of the family tonight.” Klaus said through the door.

“I know Dad. It was taken into account.” Hope called back as she turned on the water.

With a nod to himself, Klaus walked away from the bathroom to straighten up the downstairs before all of the guests that he and Hope were having that day. Meanwhile, Hope was busy fantasizing about Ryan again. How much she wanted him to be there with her. She quickly shook the thoughts from her head. If she allowed herself to get lost in the fantasies, then when he got there to help her study, that’s all she would be thinking about. And that would not end well. She already knew that Ryan could distract her just by looking at her... he did it every class. So she could not let thoughts of him making love to her in the shower be on her mind while they were studying.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

After ending the video call with Hope, Ryan smiled to himself. He had a date with Hope. Sure, it was only a study date, but it was time alone with her. That alone was better than nothing. Grabbing some clothes, he headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. His thoughts, which were rarely anywhere but on Hope, had him imagining her with him. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist; her lips moving against his; her pussy clenching around him as he made love to her against the shower wall. With a groan, Ryan braced himself with on hand before grasping his dick with the other and jacking off with Hope’s name falling from his lips as he came.

“Fuck.” Ryan muttered as he took a deep breath and cleaned up the mess before finishing his shower.

After he was done in the bathroom, Ryan headed into the kitchen to grab something quick to eat before he headed over to Hope’s. But the sight that greeted him had him laughing. Landon was standing in the middle of the kitchen, looking like a scarecrow with his arms out, and their mother, or rather _Landon’s_ mother, Seylah was walking around him, trying to figure out how to make the suit that Landon was wearing fit her son better.

“Shut the hell up, Ryan.” Landon snapped.

“Why are you wearing one of Dad’s old suits?” Ryan asked as he tried to school his features but couldn’t get the smirk off of his face.

“Sorry not all of us can be tall and look perfect in a fucking suit.” Landon spat and Seylah slapped him.

“Watch your language, Landon.” Seylah chided.

“Seriously... why are you wearing one of his suits? Don’t you have a suit that... fits... you?” Ryan asked.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going to go over to Hope’s house and ask her out. I want to impress her and her dad. He is the Dean of the University, you know.” Landon said and Ryan rolled his eyes.

“First of all, if she didn’t think of you as a friend, she wouldn’t have allowed you to be in her inner circle. Second of all, I don’t think she, or Klaus, will be impressed if you show up in a suit that’s way too big for you. Third of all, what if she has plans today?” Ryan said.

“What do you know that I don’t?” Landon asked quickly.

“That Hope’s _entire_ family is going to be in town for dinner tonight. Maybe you should hold off on going over to ask her out until tomorrow.” Ryan suggested. “It’ll give Mom a chance to alter... that.” He added, motioning towards his brother in the suit. “On second thought, that’s too much to alter in such a short amount of time.” He said with a smirk before grabbing an apple and heading towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Seylah asked.

“I have a study date this morning and work tonight.” Ryan called over his shoulder.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

Hope was pacing by the front door, waiting for Ryan to arrive. It was nearly 8, and he didn’t live that far away, so she was starting to worry that he had changed his mind. Biting her lower lip, Hope glanced at the clock again. 7:59 am. 1 more minute and then Ryan was supposed to be there. Right as the clock chimed 8, there was a knock on the front door, causing Hope to jump. Taking a deep breath, she opened the front door to see Ryan standing there with a bouquet of flowers, and a bottle of wine.

“Ryan, it is 8am, why did you bring wine?” Hope asked.

“This isn’t for us, Hope. Well... the flowers are for you. The wine is for your family tonight.” Ryan said.

“That’s really sweet of you, thank you.” Hope said with a smile as she ducked her head to hide her blush. “DAD! RYAN’S HERE.” Hope called out, and Klaus came out from the kitchen, through the dining room.

“Welcome back, Ryan.” Klaus said, his eyes falling to the bottle of wine. “Please tell me you are not planning on getting my daughter drunk on this study date of yours. She’s not old enough to drink.” He added.

“This is actually for you and your family, Sir. For your family dinner tonight. Hope mentioned that they would be coming into town today.” Ryan commented as he held the bottle out.

“That was very thoughtful of you, Ryan. Now, I am trusting the two of you to study for _school_ and school _only_.” Klaus said.

“Of course, Sir.” Ryan said with a nod and Hope had to turn away from them both as her blush grew.

“Dad, can you uh, put these in a vase for me please?” Hope asked, handing the flowers to her father as well before grabbing Ryan’s wrist.

“Of course Sweetheart. Now behave.” Klaus said with a nod.

Hope nodded and led Ryan upstairs. When she glanced over her shoulder and saw that her father was no longer in the foyer, she slipped her hand down to lace her fingers with Ryan’s. Once they got the second floor landing, Ryan lifted Hope up and tossed her over his shoulder.

“RYAN!” Hope exclaimed with a giggle.

“What? 9 hours was much too long since having you in my arms.” Ryan replied.

“I’m not _in_ your arms right now. You tossed me over your shoulder. Now. Put. Me. Down.” Hope demanded before bursting out laughing as Ryan dropped her onto her bed and started tickling her sides. “Ryan... I can’t... damn it, Ryan... I can’t breathe.” She managed to get out between laughing.

“Can I say something?” Ryan asked as he moved away from her to pull her desk chair towards the bed.

“Does it pertain to studying?” Hope questioned with a raised eyebrow as she sat up.

“No... but it very much pertains to you in this very moment.” Ryan said as he moved right up against the bed and lightly placed his hands on her thighs.

“O-okay.” Hope stammered as her eyes fell to Ryan’s hands.

“Seeing you laughing just now... it was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen your eyes. So vibrant, so full of life.” Ryan admitted as he moved his hands to Hope’s hips and pulled her less than an inch closer.

“We should probably get to studying.” Hope whispered, suddenly very nervous about being so close to Ryan.

“Is that what you really want?” Ryan asked.

“Yes.” Hope replied with a small nod.

Ryan nodded and scooted the chair away from the bed. Grabbing Hope’s book bag from the floor by the door, Ryan handed it to her and let her get her books out. Once all of the books were laid out on the bed, Hope grabbed one and settled back against her pillows. Ryan shifted her forward slightly so that he could lay behind her and kept a hand on her hip, absent-mindedly rubbing her side just above the waistband of her shorts, where her shirt had ridden up slightly. While Ryan was supposed to have been there helping her study, Hope found that just having him there with her, lightly caressing her skin, felt nice. And it wasn’t until she got to her final class, the one in which Ryan was the TA, that his presence became helpful. But when Hope turned to look at Ryan, she found that he had sat up, and their faces were dangerously close to each other. Glancing between Hope’s eyes, and down to her lips, Ryan started leaning in kiss her... only for a knock to sound on the bedroom door, that had them pulling apart.

“Hope, Sweetheart, your aunts and uncle are here.” Klaus called through the door.

“Thanks, Dad. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Just need to get changed.” Hope called back.

“ _’Changed’_?” Klaus asked.

“I’ve been studying all day, Dad. I’m wearing regular clothes. Not something suitable for a Mikaelson Family dinner.” Hope replied with a roll of her eyes as Ryan brushed his lips against her shoulder and got up to grab his phone from his jacket.

“Crap. I’m late for work.” Ryan muttered.

“Don’t let me keep you any later. I’ll let you know if I need saving from Lizzie tomorrow.” Hope commented as she put her books back into her bag and headed towards her closet.

“Need any helping picking out an outfit?” Ryan asked wishfully.

“I’ll be okay but thank you for today. It was nice.” Hope said as she grabbed a dress.

“I’m surprised at how fast the day went by.”

“Me too. But go. I don’t want to be the reason you get in trouble at work.”

“Oh wouldn’t be the reason I get in trouble. You would be the reason I get _out_ of trouble at work.”

With a wink, Ryan made his way out of the room. Before Hope could close the door behind him so that she could change, her aunt Rebekah slipped inside and smirked.

“No, Auntie Bex. He is not my boyfriend. He’s a friend that was helping me study today. We just lost track of time.” Hope said as she pulled her top off and pushed her pants down before stepping into the dress.

“I wasn’t going to say anything, Darling.” Rebekah replied.

“Nice try. I know you Auntie Bex. You were definitely going to say something.” Hope said as she turned around so that her aunt could zip the dress up. “So let’s just go down to dinner and get this over with.” She added as she slipped her heels on.

Hope didn’t expect to see Ryan still there, but it seemed that he had been stopped by her uncles, and when she and Rebekah arrived at the top of the stairs, Ryan’s eyes went wide at the sight of her. Making her way down the stairs and to Ryan’s side, Hope took Ryan’s arm and steered him away from her uncles with a brief smile at them.

“Sorry about that. My family is... protective. Rightfully so, I guess. Being as how my dad was the only one to have a family, they want to make sure that any guys that they think might be my boyfriend is with me for me, not for my family.” Hope explained once they were outside.

“They think I’m your boyfriend?” Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“My aunt did see you walk out of my room. Chances are they asked my dad who’s car was out front.” Hope replied. “If that is what happened, he would have said that I had a friend over, and then pair that with you walking out of my room...” She added with a shrug.

“Then maybe I should head back inside. Give your family a chance to get to know me.” Ryan said with a smirk.

“Very funny, Ry. But you’re becoming more and more late for work... and it’s best not to encourage my family’s imaginations.” Hope said.

“Don’t tell me you want to break up already? I thought we had a good thing going.”

“You need to stop joking around and get to work.”

“Okay, okay, I’m going. But I do need to say that you look beautiful in that dress.”

Hope flashed him a smile, taking his hand when he offered it and did a twirl for him. Once she was steady again, Ryan pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“Have a good night, Hope.”

“Have fun at work, Ryan.”


	3. Chapter 3

Erotomania  
Chapter 3  
\--  
Family dinner was not a fun time for Hope. While she never felt scrutinized by her father, she couldn’t say the same about her aunts and uncles. They always seemed to pick apart everything she did; they judged everyone she hung out with. She loved them all dearly, but she hated family dinner. The first chance she had to escape back up to her room, Hope took it. She couldn’t take her family’s judgements anymore. She could handle when the judgements were about her, but her family had focused more on her friends tonight, and in particular, they focused on Ryan. More than once Hope had felt like bursting into tears. Klaus had done what he could to steer the conversation elsewhere, but each time he did, it always circled back to him. As soon as she reached her room, Hope slammed her door shut, locked it, and grabbed her phone. Pulling up her contacts list, Hope scrolled down to Ryan’s name and as she blinked back tears, she hit the call button. She wasn’t sure if he would be able to answer, but she still wanted to try.  
  
“ **Hope? Is everything okay?** ” Ryan asked after picking up on the second ring.

“No…” Hope replied with a shaky voice.

“ **What happened?** ”

“Dinner with my family was hell. My dad tried to steer the conversation away from what they were talking about, but it didn’t stick.”

“ **Talk to me, Hope. What were they saying?** ”

“They were talking down about you.”  
  
Hope had whispered the words, but from the silence that followed, she figured Ryan had still heard her. As the silence stretched on, Hope started to worry that Ryan had hung up, so she checked and when she saw that the call was still connected, she moved the phone back to her ear.  
  
“Ry?”

“ **What were they saying about me, Hope?** ”

“Ryan…”

“ **Please, Hope, tell me what they said.** ”

“They were saying that people like you are bringing down the prestige of the University and the town, and that you shouldn’t be allowed near me. I’m so sorry, Ryan. What I mentioned to you before you left to head to work… I had it completely wrong.”

“ **Do you agree with them? Does your father agree with them?** ”

“No, of course we don’t.”

“ **Then that’s all I care about. Your father is the Dean. He makes the final choice on who gets accepted and who doesn’t. If he didn’t think that I deserved to be attending the University, then I wouldn’t have gotten in.** ”

“I’m so sorry, Ryan.”  
  
Hope couldn’t hold back the tears any longer and started to full on cry over the phone. It broke Ryan’s heart that such a huge difference could have happened in just 12 hours. Hope had been smiling and laughing that morning when he had gotten to her house, and now she was crying because her family had tried to insult him.  
  
“ **Listen to me, Hope. You have nothing to be sorry for. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve always been carefully selective about who you let get close to you. And as far as I can tell, you have amazing judgement. If you didn’t trust that I was good enough to be considered a friend, then I wouldn’t be in your life. You, and you alone, decide who gets to be in your life, and to what extent.** ”  
  
Hope nearly told Ryan she loved him for that. But she didn’t want to scare him away. Like he just said, he was her friend, so he was just being friendly and supportive, like any good friend should be. Nothing more. And she was foolish to think he would want anything more. Sure, they were friends, but she was more his younger brother’s friend than his. She was 6 years younger than him for crying out loud.  
  
“ **Hope? You still there?** ” Ryan asked.

“Right… sorry. Yes… I’m still here. Got lost in thought over what you said.” Hope replied quickly.

“ **Do you want me to come over again after I’m off? We could watch a comedy. Or even a RomCom if you want.** ” Ryan offered.

“You’ll watch a Romantic Comedy with me?” Hope asked.

“ **If you tell anyone, Miss Mikaelson, I’ll firmly deny it.** ” Ryan said, and Hope couldn’t fight the smile that lifted at the corners of her lips.

“I’d really like that, Ryan, thank you.” Hope replied.

“ **Okay, get your comfiest pjs on, pick out your favorite RomCom, and I’ll swing by the store to get some popcorn and the ingredients to make your favorite milkshake on my way over.** ” Ryan said.

“Deal. Anything to get out of this dress and these heels.” Hope said and Ryan had a coughing fit. “You okay, Clarke?”

“ **Yep, totally fine, Mikaelson.** ”

“What time should I expect you here?”

“ **An hour. It’s dead, and they’re kicking me out for the night.** ”

"You’re their only bartender. Are they closing the whole restaurant early? Or just the bar?”

“ **Just the bar. It’s just going to be bottle service for the rest of the night. But I’d rather be with you, making you feel better than here, anyway.** ” Ryan said. “ **See you soon, Pretty Girl.** ”

“That is a really cheesy nickname, Clarke. Are you sure you want to stick with it?” Hope asked.

“ **I’ll think of something better by the time I get to your house.** ” Ryan replied after a moment of silence.

“See you soon.”

With that, the call ended and Hope moved off of her bed and grabbed her favorite pajamas. The short shorts and matching tank top had been worn so often that they were very thin, but Hope didn’t care. Ryan had said to put her comfiest pjs on, and these were them. Pulling her hair into a messy bun, Hope stepped out of her heels, and quickly undid the zipper on her dress before slipping the shorts and tank top on. Just being in something more comfortable had Hope feeling better. And having more time alone with Ryan had her feeling relaxed. Moving over to her entertainment center, she glanced over her selection of Romantic Comedies and decided on The Ugly Truth. It was an older movie, but she didn’t care. She loved it. And she knew the exact reason why she loved it. And if Ryan questioned her on her choice of movie, she would definitely tell him that reason.

Once she had the movie set up, she opened her door and headed to the top of the stairs. Leaning against the railing, Hope watched her aunts and uncles leaving before her father slammed the door shut. Klaus rested his hands on the door, and Hope could see he was breathing deeply, probably trying to calm himself down before he did something he would later regret. When he pushed off of the door and turned around, he locked eyes with his daughter and let out a sigh.

“I could apologize for their behavior, but you and I both know it won’t make things better.” Klaus said.

“It’s okay Dad. You tried to get them to stop. It’s all on them. But I called Ryan. Josh and Aiden are closing the bar down early, and they sent Ryan home. But he’s going to come over and we’re going to watch a movie.” Hope said.

“And you’re wearing the skimpiest pajamas that you own? You know what... you’re old enough to make your own choices about what you wear when you have a boy in your room. So I’m not going to tell you to change before he gets here. My statement from this morning still stands. Behave.” Klaus said.

“Thanks Dad. He’s also stopping by the store to get some microwave popcorn and ingredients to make milkshakes. So we’ll be utilizing the kitchen before we watch the movie.” Hope said.

“After the shit that my siblings said after you headed upstairs, I’m going to head to bed early. And you knows the rules of the house, so if Ryan ends up staying the night, he’s to do so in the guest room.” Klaus said.

“Of course, Dad.” Hope said with a nod.

With a nod of his own, Klaus headed off to bed, leaving Hope to her own devices until Ryan showed up. Heading back into her room, she picked her phone up from her bed and sent a text off to Ryan.

_Dad went to bed since the family left. So we won’t be disrupted during the movie. – H_

**How does he know that we won’t get into any mischief? We’ll be all alone in your room. – R**

_You are such a dork, Ryan. He trusts me... and you... and there’s that little fact that we spent most of the day alone in my room without getting up to anything. – H_

**You need to make up your mind, Mikaelson. Inflate my ego last night, deflate it tonight. Which is it? – R**

_Case to case decision. – H_

**Fair enough. Just got to the store. Be there in 30. – R**

_I’ll be waiting. – H_

Crawling to the middle of her bed, Hope pulled up the picture she had of Ryan and smiled. She had been the only one still somewhat awake out of her group of friends when she had taken it, and Ryan had just gotten out of bed. He was shirtless, his hair was sticking out at odd angles, and when she asked him if she could take a picture for his contact info, he nodded and gave her lopsided grin. She had known in that moment that she would use it to get off at night. And with the fact that his pajama pants had been sitting low on his hips, Hope hadn’t been able to get the curiosity over what his lower half looked like out of her head for days. Before she knew it, there was a knock on the front door and Hope was flying down the stairs, sliding across the foyer.

“Hi.” She said with a wide smile when she opened the door for Ryan.

“Damn, Mikaelson. That guy that you like is _definitely_ losing out if those are your comfiest pjs.” Ryan replied as he looked her up and down.

“They’re my favorite.” Hope said with a pout.

“I’m not complaining. In fact, his loss is my gain tonight. You don’t strike me as the kind of girl that would wear something like this normally with guys over. This looks more like an outfit you would wear to a sleepover with Lizzie and Josie.” Ryan said. “But are you going to actually let me come in? It would be a shame if the ice cream melted before we could use it for making milkshakes.” He added with a smirk.

“Oh, right. Come on in.” Hope said as she opened the door a little bit wider and let Ryan in.

After closing the front door, Hope led Ryan to the kitchen. As he went about making their milkshakes, Hope jumped up to sit on the counter and watch him. When the milkshakes were done, Ryan handed Hope hers and she smiled.

“I think I’ve had one milkshake with you around before. I didn’t realize that you had paid enough attention to know that it’s my favorite. Peanut butter with whip cream on the bottom.” Hope said.

“Maybe I just like knowing things that you like.” Ryan said with a smirk as he turned to get the popcorn ready.

“Stalker.” Hope replied with a grin as she took a sip of her shake and let out a soft moan.

“I prefer the term ‘distantly observant’, thank you very much.” Ryan said, trying to ignore the moan.

Once the popcorn was done, Hope slid of the counter to grab a bowl from the cupboard. However it was on a shelf just out of her reach, and she felt Ryan move behind her, lightly pressing his front to her back and reaching over her head to grab the bowl. After setting it on the counter, Ryan didn’t move away from Hope, so when she lowered herself, her ass brushed against Ryan’s erection. When Hope turned around, she had to lean back against the edge of the counter to meet Ryan’s eyes.

“We should head upstairs before I do something stupid.” Ryan muttered and Hope simply nodded.

Grabbing their milkshakes, Hope led Ryan upstairs, acutely aware of the fact that he was staring at her ass the entire time, although she didn’t call him out on it. She liked having his eyes on her ass, even if he had no idea that _he_ was who she liked. Upon reaching her room, Hope placed the drinks on the nightstand before moving over to the TV to start the movie.

“Which movie did you pick?” Ryan asked.

“The Ugly Truth.” Hope replied.

“That is a really old movie, Hope. Much older than you. Slightly older than me.” Ryan commented with a smirk.

“It was my mom’s favorite movie. And once I was allowed to watch it, it became mine as well.” Hope said while sticking her tongue out at him over her shoulder.

“I won’t say another thing about it.” Ryan said, holding his hands up in surrender.

When Hope moved back to the bed, Ryan pulled her down so sit between his legs and encouraged her to lean back against him. He wanted to make her feel better after the night she had had, and the only way he could think to do that was to make sure she was happy, comfortable, and could feel his support of her decision to allow him to be in her life. Of course in his mind, that translated into having her in his lap, but he didn’t dwell on that. Hope seemed okay with the idea of leaning back against him, and she wasn’t breaking his wrists as he rested his hands on her thighs, so that was a good sign.

About half an hour into the movie, Ryan started to subconsciously run his fingers along Hope’s thighs, similar to what he had done the night before at the pizza parlor. When he realized what he was doing, he lightly dug his fingers in a little bit more. Ryan’s ministrations had Hope arching into his touch, and just moving against him in general. Whether she was moving purposefully, or subconsciously, Ryan didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to complain. But when Hope’s hands came down on top of his, Ryan feared that he had gone too far. That fear was quickly erased when she moved his hands closer to the apex of her legs.

“Hope...” Ryan breathed out.

“Ryan.” Hope whispered as her hands moved up to lock together behind Ryan’s neck and pulled his head down. “Stop talking.” She added and brushed her lips against his.


	4. Chapter 4

Erotomania

Chapter 4

\--

Ryan didn’t know how to react to the feeling of Hope’s lips against his. But before he could figure something out, and kiss her back, Hope had turned back to continue watching the movie and simply snuggled further back into Ryan’s embrace. That, Ryan knew, was done on purpose, because Hope had made sure the rub her ass against his erection... again. Damn he was going to have to take a cold shower to get rid of his arousal. But if Hope could tease him, then Ryan sure as hell was going to tease her right back. Societal percussions be damned. Moving his hands lightly up Hope’s sides, Ryan ghosted his fingers around her breasts until Hope was breathing heavily.

“Stop it Ryan. I can’t concentrate on the movie.” Hope commented.

“And you think I can? You’re pressing pretty firmly against my dick. And it’s getting a bit painful, to be perfectly honest.” Ryan replied.

“Hey, I would have been perfectly happy laying on the bed next to you. You put us in this position.” Hope said. “And you could have said something sooner.” She added as she moved away from him.

“Not so fast, Mikaelson.” Ryan said as he quickly wrapped his arms around Hope’s waist and pulled her back against his chest.

“Think very carefully before you do anything else, Clarke.” Hope said slowly.

“I didn’t say anything sooner because you’re right, I put us in this position. A position that you could have changed at any time. So I am going to deal with this later. You, on the other hand, are staying right here for the rest of the movie.” Ryan said firmly.

Hope paused the movie and turned part way in Ryan’s arms to look up at him. The look he was giving her was as if daring her to go against him on his stance. Turning around completely to face him, Hope leveled his stare with one of her own. Ryan reached for the hem of Hope’s shirt slowly, but Hope put her hands on his again and stopped his movements. The look in her eyes had changed from challenging to uncertainty, and Ryan simply rested his hands on her hips.

“You’re really stopping?” Hope asked.

“You stopped me, Hope. I told you last night to tell me if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Stopping me from taking your shirt off is very clear indicator that you are uncomfortable.” Ryan said as he repositioned them so that Hope was fully sitting on his lap.

“It’s not that you taking my shirt off makes me uncomfortable, it’s just that I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to do what usually comes _after_ that.” Hope admitted as she traced the lines on Ryan’s hand.

“Hope, I know that a relationship beyond what we have now isn’t in the cards... but if it were, please tell me that you know I would never force myself on you. Or force you to do _anything_ that you’re ready to do.” Ryan said with a frown.

“I do.” Hope said in a small voice before resting her head on Ryan’s shoulder.

“Good. Because it would kill me if you thought anything else.” Ryan said as he placed a light kiss on the top of Hope’s head.

Hope nodded slightly and resumed the movie, only to pause it again. Sitting up from Ryan’s lap and taking his hands in hers, Hope pulled him up from the bed and pulled the sheets back. Pushing Ryan back down onto the bed, Hope crawled back into his lap and pulled the covers over them before curling up against Ryan and continuing the movie once again. Ryan tucked Hope’s head under his chin and wrapped his arms around Hope’s waist and just enjoying the feeling of her being in his arms. When the movie came to an end, Hope gripped Ryan’s shirt to stop him from leaving.

“Please don’t go.”

“Hope... I have to go. Believe me, I would much rather stay here with you than be at home dealing with my loser little brother, but I don’t have a choice. My father isn’t in the picture at all, so Seylah needs me to help out around the house. Landon just kind of sucks up all of her energy being so whiney all the time.” Ryan said as he rubbed Hope’s side with his thumb.

“Text her and say that I insisted you stay the night in the guest room instead of driving home.” Hope suggested.

“I like to keep my private life... well... private from my family. If Seylah knows that I’ve been here, then Landon is going to find out, and he has this idea in his head that he can impress you, and your dad, enough to be allowed to date you.” Ryan said as he shifted them so that he was hovering over Hope.

“That’s never happening. Your brother’s nice and all, but I kind of only allowed him into my inner circle because Raf vouched for him. And because it gave me a reason to extend friendship to you, too. But if it wouldn’t make me look like a total rich bitch, I would kick him out and keep you.” Hope said with a short, humorless laugh.

“You continue to be a woman after my own heart, Hope Mikaelson. But I really do have to go. The offer to save you from Lizzie tomorrow still stands.” Ryan said as he moved off of her.

“Ryan, wait.” Hope said as she sat up and moved to the edge of the bed.

“Did you forget something, Mikaelson?” Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.” Hope replied as she pulled him in and pressed her lips to his in a hard kiss.

Hope had thought that by kissing him fully, that Ryan might change his mind and stay the night, but by the time she opened her eyes after the kiss ended, Ryan was gone. Falling back onto her bed, Hope let out a sigh. She knew it would be a long shot that he would kiss her back, let alone stay, but she had taken a chance, and he had bailed. Despite everything else that had happened between them that night, Ryan clearly didn’t want her the same way she wanted him. Grabbing a pillow, Hope pulled it over her face and screamed into it. She was so screwed up. Even with the clearest sign of all that he wasn’t interested in her as more than a friend, all of his touches, and the fact that he had been an inch, if that, away from dipping his fingers into her pussy, had turned Hope on, and she knew she wouldn’t be falling asleep any time soon.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

As Ryan sat in his car, still parked in front of Hope’s house, he was kicking himself for leaving Hope the way he had. But he knew that if he had stayed, that he would most likely push her to do something she wasn’t ready for. And that was not something that Ryan was okay with doing. So instead of staying and telling her that, he had made a dick move and left in the middle of an amazing kiss with the girl that he couldn’t stop thinking about. He vowed to himself that if she called him the next day to save her from Lizzie dragging her to the mall, that he would make it up to her.

**I know that it might not mean much, but I really enjoyed spending most of the day and tonight with you. Thank you for making me feel better. – H**

_You’re still talking to me? I thought after how I just left... – R_

**It’s fine. You had to get home. I understand. – H**

_So there’s a chance that I’ll be rescuing from Lizzie and the mall tomorrow? – R_

**I’d say a solid 99.99% chance of that. – H**

_What about that other 0.01%? – R_

**That would be Lizzie doesn’t drag me to the mall in the first place. – H**

_Hm, well, text or call me either way. I want to apologize in person. – R_

**Apologize, or _apologize_? – H**

_That depends on you. – R_

**I’ll let you know tomorrow. – H**

_Sleep tight, Princess. – R_

**Stick with that one. I like it. – H**

**G’night Ry. – H**

_Good night Hope. – R_

Ryan smiled as he went into Hope’s contact info and added in the nickname. His smile didn’t falter the entire way home. He was thrilled that he hadn’t completely screwed things up with Hope and that had him looking forward to being able to spend more time alone with her going forward. His good mood, however, instantly plummeted the second he walked through the front door and he was bombarded by questions.

“Where have you been?” Seylah asked.

“I was hanging out with a friend.” Ryan replied. “Not that it’s any of your business, since I’m 26 years old, and can do what I want.”

“You were supposed to have been at work. But when I needed you, I called the restaurant, they said you were sent home early hours ago. I tried your cell and got no response.” Seylah said.

“With all due respect, _Mom_ , I have nothing from you on my phone. No missed call, no missed text. Nothing. So don’t give me this crap that you tried getting a hold of me. And what could have possibly been so important that you had to call the restaurant to talk to me?” Ryan asked.

“That’s not the point.” Seylah said.

“Clearly it is, because it’s the exact reason you’re ambushing me before I’ve even taken 2 steps into the house. And I swear to god, Mom, if you are about to say that Landon needs help with something, I will walk out that door and never look back.”

“You have nowhere else to go, Ryan. No one wants you around.” Landon commented from the living room.

“I know for a fact that isn’t true.” Ryan said with a scoff. “Now I’m going to bed.” He added before pushing past his step-mother and heading to his room.

“You were with Hope, weren’t you? Why can’t you just leave her alone? She doesn’t want you. She only tolerates you being around because you’re my half-brother. She deserves to be with someone that appreciates who she is and what she wants.” Landon jabbed and Ryan spun around with a flash of fury in his eyes.

“Tell me, _Little Brother_ , do you know anything about Hope? Her favorite movie? Her favorite flavor milkshake? Anything at all? Do you actually know what she wants? Or are you just assuming you do? Because I am willing to bet that you don’t know the first thing about Hope Mikaelson, other than the fact that her father is the Dean of the University.” Ryan was near yelling now.

“You act like you _do_ know those stupid little things about her.” Landon said.

“Say that again and see what happens Landon.”

Ryan didn’t give Landon a chance to respond before he turned around and headed to his room, making sure to slam his door a lot harder than he normally would. He was fed up with his family. His father had left them when Ryan had been 10, and Seylah had never fully accepted Ryan as her son before that, and over the last 16 years, she saw him as nothing more than an extension of her worthless husband. Not really thinking things through, Ryan grabbed a duffle bag from his closet and started throwing clothes into it. Once it was full, he glanced around to see what else he would need to take with him. Grabbing his book bag from school, made sure all of his textbooks were in it before sliding his laptop into it, and tossing his phone charger into it as well. Pulling his phone out of his back pocket, he pulled up Hope’s contact, praying that she hadn’t fallen asleep yet.

“ **Ry? What happened?** ” Hope asked.

“Can I come back and stay in the guest room for a few nights?” Ryan asked.

“ **Of course you can. You can always come over. But tell me what happened.** ” Hope pleaded.

“I’ll explain when I get there.”

After a quick confirmation from Hope, Ryan hung up and tucked his phone back into his pocket. He would figure something out and would come back for the rest of his stuff. He was done living with people that didn’t want him around. Hope had told him herself that the only reason she kept Landon around was because she didn’t want to look like a rich bitch, but that she actually wanted him in her life. So he was starting there. If it went from a temporary thing to looking more permanent, he was willing to pay rent, if Klaus needed him to.

Surprisingly enough, or rather, not surprising at all, Ryan didn’t cross paths with Landon or Seylah as he headed back out to his car. He drove a little faster than he should have been late at night, but he wanted- no, he _needed_ \- to get to Hope’s house. Because the closer he got to her house, the farther he got from his. Upon parking the car, Ryan grabbed the two bags and headed towards the front door. Before even reaching the door, it swung open and Hope was standing there, waiting for him, and looking concerned. Glancing behind her, Ryan saw Klaus standing by the stairs, and he did not look thrilled. Ryan could only hope that Klaus’ foul mood was directed at someone other than himself.

“Ryan, what happened?” Hope asked as she took his face in her hands and searched his eyes.

“I hate having to tell you this Hope, but you made a mistake in trusting Landon. I didn’t tell him where I’ve been today, but his initial thought, and really his only thought, was that I was with you. He said things that I know aren’t true about how you feel about me, and I laid in on him. I asked him what he knew about you, and I could see it written clearly on his face... he knows nothing about you, Hope. He even went as far as calling those things ‘stupid’.” Ryan explained as he leaned his cheek against Hope’s palm. “I needed to get out of there. And being here with you was the only place I could think of coming.” He said. “I hope I’m not intruding, Klaus.” He added as his eyes drifted to look at the man behind Hope.

“Of course not, Ryan. You are always welcome here. But in order to move forward with anything, I need to know. How long will you be staying here?” Klaus asked.

“Just a couple days, at least. Time to figure out my next move, and get my stuff moved out of that house. If it starts to look like it’ll be longer than that, I will gladly pay rent, or help out with anything you need to thank you for your hospitality.” Ryan said, glancing down as Hope grabbed his duffel bag.

“Okay, we will discuss logistics in the morning of how to proceed from here.” Klaus said with a nod. “Hope, you need to cut Landon out, immediately.”

“Dad let me deal with Landon. I don’t want to lose Raf too, so I need to figure out if there’s a way to deal with this without perpetuating the image a lot of people have of me being a rich bitch.” Hope said with a sigh as she took Ryan’s hand.

“If you lose Raf, Hope, then maybe he shouldn’t have been in your life either.” Ryan commented softly.

“It’s because of Raf that you are in my life, and I plan on keeping you in my life. So let me see if there’s a way to cut Landon out, and keep Raf. If there isn’t then they’re both gone.” Hope said.


	5. Chapter 5

Erotomania

Chapter 5

\--

Squeezing Ryan’s hand, Hope turned to fully face her father. She knew his rule about no sharing a room, but she was praying that he would make an exception just this once. As father and daughter locked eyes, and carried on a silent conversation, Ryan simply stood there, looking between the two, trying, and failing, to figure out what was being said between them. When Klaus finally sighed and nodded, Ryan couldn’t help but feel like he wouldn’t be sleeping in the guest room that night. His thoughts were proved correct when, after giving her father a hug and a kiss goodnight, Hope led him upstairs to her room, instead of the guest room.

“I thought your father had a house rule of no sleeping in the same room?” Ryan asked once they were in Hope’s room and he was able to pull her in for a hug.

“He relented on that for tonight. You’re staying with me tonight. But, um, promise me that we won’t do anything tonight. I don’t want our friendship to get muddled after the day we’ve both had.” Hope said.

“I promise, Hope.” Ryan said before lifting her chin up. “And that promise starts right after this...” He added before pressing his lips to Hope’s.

The kiss was sweet and short but conveyed everything that Ryan wanted to say. And when it broke, both of them were smiling. Ryan moved them to the bed and let Hope crawl in first and get settled before he placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I’ll be right back.” He said.

“Where are you going?” Hope asked.

“Bathroom.”

With a nod, Hope rolled onto her side to plug her phone into the charger. She wasn’t going to get much time to relieve the tension that had settled over her body after watching the movie with Ryan, but she was going to try. Once she heard the bathroom door close, and the water turn on in the shower, Hope pulled up Ryan’s picture. If he was going to take a shower, then that gave her a little bit more time. Slipping her hand beneath the waistband of her shorts and panties, Hope let out a soft moan when she realized just how wet Ryan had made her. Her imagination drifted to his hands on her thighs during the movie and just how close he had been to doing this exact thing to her. Cumming with his name on her lips, Hope let out a sigh. It hadn’t relieved all of the tension, but it had relieved enough that she would be able to get some sleep.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

The second Ryan stepped into the shower; he was grabbing his dick to relieve the pressure. He hadn’t been lying to Hope when he told her that her pressing against it during the movie was making it painful. But now, being at her house, and about to be sleeping in the same bed with her, and having promised that nothing would happen, he needed to deal with his erection. He figured he had about 5-10 minutes to deal with this before Hope wondered what was taking him so long and came to check on him. And that was something that he couldn’t let happen. Hope couldn’t know that he masturbated to thoughts of her while in the shower. She would be mortified if she found out. Getting her dad to allow them to sleep in the same room was one thing but finding out that he got off to her... Ryan wouldn’t be allowed in the house, or around Hope, ever again. So with a groan of her name, after imagining what he _should_ have been doing during the movie, Ryan reached a release and cleaned himself up.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

Hope had just finished cleaning herself up as best as she could and had just crawled back into bed when Ryan came back into the room. There had been a tension to his whole body when he had gotten there, but now, now Hope didn’t see it. She was glad that the shower had helped. When he crawled into bed next to her, Ryan wrapped his arm around Hope’s waist and pulled her against him while pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

“Feeling better?” Hope asked.

“A bit. After what Landon said about you... I can’t go back there, Hope. I can’t keep living in that house. Once I figure out where to go, I’m moving out.” Ryan said.

“I’ll help you pack everything up, and I’m sure my dad would be fine with you using the storage space in the backyard for your stuff until you find a place.” Hope replied.

“I can’t ask you to do that, Hope. The second Landon sees you at the house, he’ll just start throwing accusations at me again, or insulting you. Just letting me stay here for a few nights is more than enough. I don’t want to take advantage of yours and your father’s hospitality by staying _and_ using your storage space.” Ryan argued.

“You’re not asking, Ryan, I’m offering. And I don’t care about Landon. I care about you.” Hope said. “And my dad and I don’t use that storage space. It’s been sitting empty for years. He’ll be thrilled to have some use for it.”

“Are you sure you want to help me this much? I have nothing to offer you in return.” Ryan questioned.

“I don’t need anything from you in return, Ryan. Seeing you happy is good enough for me.”

“Thank you, Hope, for everything.”

With a smile, Hope lightly pressed her lips to Ryan’s in a goodnight kiss before resting her head on his chest, over his heart. After such a long and emotionally tiring day, sleep overcame both of them within minutes.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

The following morning, Hope woke up with a smile on her face. While she had started the day before off by talking to Ryan, waking up to him was something else entirely. And she loved it. But she knew it wouldn’t last. He wasn’t planning on staying with her and her dad indefinitely, just until he found another place to live. But that thought only lowered her smile by a little bit. Waking up to him just outshined everything else. Tilting her head up, Hope let out a gasp when she saw that Ryan was looking down at her with a smile on his face.

“Best way to wake up.” Ryan muttered before pressing a kiss to Hope’s forehead.

“I’ll say. It’s even better than my wakeup call yesterday.” Hope replied with a smirk.

“Unkind, Mikaelson. Take it back.” Ryan said with a mock frown.

“I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy my wakeup call yesterday, today is just better.” Hope commented.

“Fine, fine.” Ryan said. “Should we get up?”

“We could.” Hope replied. “Or we can stay in bed a little bit longer.”

“Would your dad approve?”

“Probably not.”

“I’d really like to stay in your dad’s good graces, Hope. So how about we get out of bed, and you help me make breakfast.”

“You cook?”

“I can make scrambled eggs. So if you can make bacon and toast, we’ll be set.”

“Deal.”

By the time they got downstairs, Klaus was already up and in the kitchen making coffee. When he saw the smiles on both of their faces, that made him smile as well. He truly wanted his daughter to be happy, and not go through any kind of heartbreak. He had lost the love of his life as she gave birth to the beautiful young woman currently standing before Klaus, and he would be damned if he didn’t do everything that he could to protect Hope and the love that she had for Ryan.

“Dad, we don’t have any plans to use the storage space in the backyard, right?” Hope asked.

“Not that I’m aware of, but since you’re asking, I’m guessing that you do?” Klaus replied.

“I’m moving out of the house, Sir. And Hope offered to help me pack my stuff up and keep it in your storage space.” Ryan explained.

“That’s fine with me. It needs to be used.” Klaus agreed. “Also, you commented last night, Ryan, that you hadn’t told Landon or Seylah that you were here yesterday, so it got me thinking... you’ll need a new car.” He added.

“That really won’t be necessary, Sir.” Ryan argued.

“Hear me out, Ryan. The look of your SUV is well known around town. We can order you some new license plates and get a new paint color for it. Before all of that is done, you can use my old car. It needs a bit of work, but it still runs. So if you are willing to help me fix it up, then we can call it even. Hope cares about you, and from what I’ve seen and heard, your half-brother is quick to jealousy, and downright disrespectful to my daughter when she’s not around. So you are welcome to stay here as long as you need to, and I will assure that your family will not find out that you are here.” Klaus explained.

“Thank you, Sir. That really means a lot.” Ryan said with a nod.

“You’re welcome. You are as good as family, Ryan, and despite how my siblings see you, I do not hold their same views. You are a hard working young man who clearly cares about my daughter, and for that, _I_ am grateful.”

“We’re going to make breakfast, do you want any, Dad?” Hope asked.

“What are you making?” Klaus inquired.

“Ryan’s going to make scrambled eggs and I’m going to make bacon and toast.”

“Count me in.”

As Hope and Ryan got to work on making breakfast, Klaus watched them closely. He didn’t know what _exactly_ had changed between them the day before, but he knew that something definitely had. Neither of them could stop smiling at the other and they were both doing whatever they could to lightly touch each other. But when Hope jumped up to sit on the counter as the toast was going, and Ryan leaned in for a kiss, which Hope happily responded to, Klaus figured it out. They might not have admitted their feelings for each other yet, but they had made a step in that direction, and Klaus was happy for them. Once the three of them sat down to eat, Klaus stared at Hope.

“Want to fill me in, Sweetheart?” Klaus asked.

“We kissed.” Hope said simply, doing her best to keep her expression neutral while she gave her father a pointed look not to push the subject.

“I saw. Just wanted to know if there was anything else.” Klaus said with a shrug.

“Nope. Nothing else.” Hope replied.

“Okay then.” Klaus said with a nod. “Oh, if you would like to move your SUV in from off the street, Ryan, you’re welcome to park in the garage. We have plenty of room for it.” He added.

“I should probably do that sooner rather than later. Landon might try stopping by later today.” Ryan said with a frown.

“Why would he do that?” Klaus asked with a sharp look.

“He has this idea that he can impress you and Hope enough to get permission to date her.” Ryan replied.

“After what he said to you last night, that’s never happening.” Klaus replied coldly.

“Don’t worry, Dad, even if there had been a _chance_ of you approving, I would say no. I’ve never liked him like that.” Hope said.

After that, the three of them finished eating in silence before Ryan got up to go grab his keys from upstairs. Hope smiled when he kissed the top of her head and started clearing the table to wash them. Once Ryan was out of the room, Klaus turned to Hope.

“He hasn’t asked you out yet?” Klaus asked.

“No, Dad, he hasn’t. And he probably won’t. I’m not that lucky. I told you yesterday, I don’t think he likes me the way that I like him.” Hope said with a sigh.

“Sweetheart, I love you, so what I’m about to say, I’m saying out of love... you are being delusional if you think that Ryan doesn’t like you as more than a friend. _‘Just friends’_ do not kiss each other and smile at each other the way you two have been doing this morning. You need to tell him how you feel, Sweetheart, because I guarantee that he feels the same.” Klaus said.

“Just drop it, Dad, please.” Hope said, just as Ryan came back into the kitchen.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I’m going to need one of you to open the garage door for me.” Ryan said apologetically.

“No need to apologize, Ryan. We were done.” Hope said. “Do you mind finishing the dishes, Dad?” She asked before leading Ryan to the garage.

Once they were out of the room, Ryan turned to Hope and pulled her in for a kiss. Hope wrapped her arms around Ryan’s neck and pulled him in closer. If this was all she ever got from Ryan, then she would take it. He was a much better kisser than she had imagined, and she could get lost in the feeling of his lips moving against hers. But what made this particular kiss better than any of the others that they had shared since the night before was that Ryan was lightly gripping her hips and pulling her flush against his body. When the kiss broke, Ryan simply wrapped his arms around Hope in a tight hug to hold her close.

“You are absolutely amazing, Hope Mikaelson.” Ryan whispered into her ear.

“So are you, Ryan Clarke.” Hope agreed.

“What do you say about getting our friends over and just hanging out in the pool?” Ryan asked. “Instead of possibly suffering at the mall?” He added.

“I like the sound of that. You pull your car into the garage, and I’ll go grab my phone to text everyone.” Hope said.

“Just make sure my loser little brother isn’t invited, and that everyone knows not to say anything to him.” Ryan replied as his hold on her tightened. “I don’t want him anywhere near you.”

“I know, Ry, I wasn’t going to include him in the message anyway.” Hope said as she pulled his head down for one more kiss. “It would be really awkward to have him around if I have the urge to kiss you while everyone’s here.”

With a smirk, Ryan nipped at Hope’s bottom lip before pulling away from her to bring his car inside. Hope had really intended on heading upstairs to grab her phone, but watching Ryan walk away, she couldn’t bring herself to look anywhere else but at his ass. It was only fair, as he had gotten a good look at her ass he night before. But when she was still standing in the exact spot her had left her once he had pulled his car in, and closed the garage door, Ryan couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

“See something you like, Princess?” Ryan asked as he placed his hands on Hope’s waist.

“Huh?”

Hope had completely zoned out, and actually hearing Ryan call her ‘Princess’ and not just reading it in a text had her weak in the knees. But when he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder, Hope let out a squeal.

“Ryan Clarke, you put me down this instant!”

“You were staring, Princess. I had to do something to shake you out of it.” Ryan replied.

“And you thought throwing me over your shoulder was the best idea? This just gives me an up close look at your ass.” Hope commented.

“And it gives me an up close look at yours, too. So I’d say it’s a win-win.” Ryan said before putting her down.

“We should head upstairs so I can get my phone and we can text everyone.” Hope breathed out as she looked up at Ryan.

“We definitely should.” Ryan agreed as he backed Hope against the wall.

“This is the opposite direction of where we need to go.” Hope whispered.

“I know.” Ryan said simply. “But I just can’t seem to keep my hands to myself this morning. Or my lips.” He added before pressing his lips to Hope’s in a deep kiss and lifting her into his arms.

Out of instinct, Hope wrapped her legs around Ryan’s waist and her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as she did so. Before she realized it, Ryan was carrying her up the stairs while never breaking the kiss. And with each step he took, his erection was rubbing against Hope’s core and she was fighting back a moan. Once they got to her room, and Ryan had gently laid her down on the bed, the kiss was broken and Hope looked up at him with hooded eyes. Standing up, Ryan pulled his shirt over his head and unwrapped Hope’s legs from around his waist.

“Wait... what are you doing?” Hope asked.

“I’m gonna change into my swim trunks. Come on Mikaelson, don’t tell me that kissing me made you forget what we’re inviting our friends over to do.” Ryan replied with a smirk.

“Damn you, Clarke.” Hope growled as she rolled over to grab her phone from the nightstand.

Opening her messages, Hope started a new group message, hesitating before not clicking on Rafael’s name. With as close as he and Landon were, she didn’t know if she could trust him not to tell Landon that everyone else was invited over, and Landon wasn’t. And frankly, she wasn’t sure if she did invite him, if he would stay tight lipped about Ryan staying at her house. Ryan had made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want Landon and Seylah to know where he was. So she just added Josie, Kaleb, Lizzie and MG.

_Spending the day at home in the pool. The four of you are invited to come over. Please don’t tell Raf or Landon. There’s something that Ryan and I have to tell you all about Landon. – H_

After hitting send, Hope rolled off of the bed and walked over to her dresser. Pulling open her swimsuit drawer, Hope contemplated which one she wanted to wear. Deciding on a brown one with orange butterflies, she quickly changed while Ryan was changing in the bathroom. Assuming that Ryan hadn’t brought a towel with him, Hope grabbed two from her closet before meeting him in the hallway. They were about to head downstairs when Klaus’ voice floated up to them from the front door and Ryan pulled Hope back.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

Landon was bouncing on the balls of his feet as he knocked on the front door of Hope’s house. He really wanted Hope to be the one to answer the door, as she would be easier to convince than her father, but luck was not with Landon, and when the front door swung open, Klaus Mikaelson was standing on the other side. Gulping at the older male’s stern face, Landon started to regret this plan of his.

“Good morning, Dean Mikaelson.” Landon said.

“Landon, what are you doing here?” Klaus asked.

“I, uh, I was wondering if Hope was here? There’s something that I would like to ask her. And you, of course. Because you’re her father, and it’s expected to ask for a father’s permission.” Landon rambled.

“Hope’s not here, Landon. So whatever you want to ask my permission for, ask me now.” Klaus said, already irritated with the boy standing before him.

“Oh, okay. Um, I was wondering if I could get your permission to ask Hope out on a date.” Landon said.

“No, you cannot _get_ my permission. And you don’t have it, either.” Klaus said before he slammed the door shut and turned to the top of the stairs where Hope and Ryan peeked out from around the corner.

“WHAT THE HELL, MAN!?” Landon yelled from outside. “YOU CAN’T TREAT A FELLOW HUMAN LIKE THIS!”

Klaus rolled his eyes and motioned for Hope and Ryan to hide again before pulling the door open again.

“You have 2 seconds to get off my property before I have you arrested for trespassing. I’ve already told you that Hope is not here, and that you do not have my permission to ask her out. Now leave.” Klaus said as he turned Landon around and pushed him towards the front edge of the porch, causing Landon to stumble.

“You’re an asshole.” Landon said over his shoulder.

“You are not winning any points with me, Landon. And if you try to insult me one more time, you will find yourself kicked out of school.”

Landon sobered up at that. After straightening his jacket, he glared at Klaus before turning to leave. He was going to have Hope as his girlfriend, whether he had Klaus’ permission or not.


	6. Chapter 6

Erotomania

Chapter 6

\--

After slamming the door one more time behind Landon, Klaus turned back to Hope and Ryan. Hope was smiling and Ryan had a smirk on his face.

“That sniveling brat isn’t coming anywhere near you, Hope.” Klaus said before taking in what they were wearing. “Should I expect your other friends to be here to join you in the pool, or will it just be the two of you?” He asked.

“I texted Josie, Lizzie, Kaleb and MG, and invited them over. Don’t know if they’ll show or not, though.” Hope replied.

“Swimsuits stay on at all times.” Klaus said before heading towards his art room.  
“He didn’t say no sex though.” Ryan whispered as he wrapped an arm around Hope’s waist and pulled her against him.

“No one is having sex with anyone in the pool, or hot tub.” Hope commented before biting her lower lip to hold back a groan.

“Are you sure?” Ryan asked.

“100% sure. And _I_ will reiterated that fact if and when the others get here. They don’t like flaunting it, because the group has been uneven of girls vs guys, and because I didn’t have a boyfriend, but Lizzie and Kaleb are dating, and so are Josie and MG.” Hope explained.

Ryan wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He didn’t think that Hope had a boyfriend. But then again, she could have been referring to him. Were they boyfriend and girlfriend now? He didn’t know. But she was rich, and beautiful, and her family owned the town. He was nothing more than a bartender at the fanciest restaurant in town. He didn’t deserve to be considered her boyfriend. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, Ryan laced his fingers with Hope’s as she led him down to the pool. After dropping their towels on the lounge chairs, Ryan lifted Hope into his arms and carried her to the hot tub.

“Bit presumptuous, are we?” Hope asked as Ryan settled down onto the bench seat and pulled Hope flush against his chest.

“I was raised to finish what I start, Hope. Had you wanted me to stop earlier?” Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well... no... but that doesn’t mean...”

“Stop talking, Hope.”

Lightly pulling her closer to him, Ryan pressed his lips to Hope’s in a heated kiss as his hands started to roam her body. As Ryan’s hands came to rest on Hope’s ass, and the kiss was starting to deepen, a commotion coming from the house interrupted them.

“WE’RE COMING OUT SO EVERYONE BETTER BE DECENT!” Lizzie called.

“Damn their timing.” Ryan muttered as Hope broke the kiss. “Aren’t you going to move somewhere else?” He asked.

“Nope. I’m staying right where I am.” Hope replied. “Besides, I thought you liked me sitting on your lap.” She added while playfully biting his earlobe.

“We’re here. What did Hobbit do this time?” Lizzie asked as she stepped into the hot tub.

“Wait... are you two... ya know...” Kaleb asked, eyeing Hope’s position on Ryan’s lap.

“No, Kaleb, we aren’t together. But it’s honestly okay if you all want to act like couples. I know that you’ve all been keeping your relationships with each other on the DL mostly for my benefit.” Hope said before leaning back against Ryan.

“Oh thank goodness. It’s been really difficult to keep from making out with Kaleb.” Lizzie said with a smirk.

“I don’t want to see you guys _making out_ , but you don’t have to avoid completely touching each other.” Hope replied while sticking her tongue out at her friend.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about MG and I making out. We simply prefer to display our affection in private.” Josie said.

Once everyone was settled, 4 sets of eyes turned to Hope and Ryan expectantly. And it made Hope very unsettled, so she moved in closer to Ryan’s embrace as his arms tightened around her waist. After pressing a kiss to Hope’s shoulder, Ryan looked up at their friends.

“What?” He asked.

“What did the Hobbit do this time?” Lizzie asked again.

“And why couldn’t we tell Raf that we were all coming over?” Josie added.

“Landon insulted Hope last night.” Ryan said slowly.

“How?” Kaleb questioned, his face hardening.

“I spent the day with Hope yesterday. I was meant to be helping her study, but I ended up just keeping her company while she studied. When her family got here for dinner, I went to work. While eating dinner, they were talking down about me. Hope called me nearly in tears because of what her family said. Since it was dead at the restaurant, Josh and Aiden decided to close the bar for the night, and since they were already sending me home early, I came back here instead. Hope and I watched a movie and then I headed home. When I got there, Seylah immediately started laying in on me for not going straight home after my shift was cut short. Landon than immediately started in on assuming I was with Hope. He said some things about her not wanting me around, and that she only tolerates me because of him. He said that she deserves someone that appreciates her and appreciates what she wants. When I asked him if knew anything about Hope, other than the fact that her father is the Dean of the University, he essentially said that it was pointless to ‘know those stupid little things’ about her.” Ryan explained.

“Ryan is staying here for the time being, while figuring out what to do next, because he’s moving out of his house. I’m going to help him pack up his stuff and my dad and I have offered to let him keep everything in the storage space over there.” Hope said, motioning to small building. “I didn’t invite Raf, because he’s unwaveringly loyal to Landon. I didn’t think he would have kept it a secret from Landon that all of you were invited over, and Landon wasn’t. And if I had invited him, I didn’t think that he would keep from telling Landon where Ryan’s staying.” She added.

“Landon also showed up here this morning, asking Klaus for permission to date Hope. When Klaus refused and slammed the door in Landon’s face, Landon threw a fit.” Ryan added, his smirk from earlier returning.

“Damn, Hope. I find a new reason to respect your dad every time we’re over here.” Kaleb said. “But we got your back, Ry. Landon is blind. He’s the only one that doesn’t see that Hope cares about you. The two of you have a connection that the rest of us don’t. We see it, we respect it, and we will protect it. Whatever it takes.” He continued as he held his hand out to Ryan.

“Thank you Kaleb.”

“So... does that mean it’s just the six of us, now?” MG asked. “Or is Raf still going to be in the group?” He added.

“As much as I didn’t want to cut Raf out, I’m not going to give anyone a chance to hurt Ryan. And Raf’s loyalty to Landon would always make me question how much he’s feeding to Landon from what we talk about. And that’s something that I can’t have in my life. So it’s just gonna be the six of us going forward.” Hope said with a frown.

“Maybe we can give him a chance to prove himself?” Josie suggested.

“I don’t want any of us to put Raf in the position where he has to choose between us and Landon. I’m positive that he would choose Landon without a second thought.” Hope said. “So I’m making the choice for what’s best for me. Both Landon and Raf are out.” She added.

“Hope... are you sure you want to do this? Raf is still a good guy.” MG asked.

“It’s not a matter of what I _want_ to do, MG. It’s what I _need_ to do. And I need to cut them out. I can’t have Landon in my life anymore, and I refuse to put Raf in a position to choose. I’m not changing my mind on this, so please, just drop it.”

Once the others agreed, the rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying the day together. By the time they were ready to call it a day, and head inside to eat dinner, everyone else had agreed to also help Ryan pack up his stuff and move it into the storage space. As they were all sitting down to eat, and mentioned this to Klaus, he nodded.

“I will notify all of your professors that none of you will be in your classes tomorrow. While you were all having your little pool party, I took the liberty of going out to get some moving boxes for you Ryan. All of you will stay here tonight, and then as soon as Landon and Seylah leave, you will all head over, pack up Ryan’s things and bring them back here.” Klaus said.

With nods of agreement from everyone, they all finished eating in silence before everyone headed off to bed. Hope had wanted to fall asleep in Ryan’s arms again, so that she could wake up in his arms the next morning, but with Josie, Kaleb, Lizzie and MG spending the night as well, she knew that wouldn’t be possible. That, and she had only gotten her dad to agree to Ryan sleeping in her room for one night. Hope also had wanted to avoid the conversation of what was going on between her and Ryan, but as luck would have it, she was 0-2 for what she wanted.

“Spill, Mikaelson. What’s the full story of what’s going on between you and Ryan?” Lizzie asked.

“We’ve been kissing... a lot... today, and after everything that went down with my family, and his family, my dad allowed him to sleep in here last night, but that’s all that’s happened. Besides, he doesn’t like me as more than a friend.” Hope said with a shrug.

“Come on, Hope, really? You truly believe that Ryan doesn’t like you as more than a friend? He couldn’t keep his hands off of you today. And don’t think we didn’t see you circling your hips against him in the hot tub.” Josie commented.

“Why is everyone so adamant that he likes me the same way that I like him? We’re both single. And I know that he knows we’re both single. If he wanted to ask me out, he would have by now.” Hope said with a sigh of frustration.

“Because we all see it, Hope. Literally the only people who _don’t_ see how you and Ryan feel about each other is you and Ryan.” Lizzie replied.

“Hope, if you don’t woman up and tell Ryan how you really feel, you might lose him. You are both extremely attractive, and we know that other woman see that about Ryan. They’re constantly hitting on him at work.” Josie said.

“I know that, Jo. They are beautiful women, who have access to all kinds of money to buy him expensive gifts and what do I have to offer him? Nothing. That’s what. I can only gain access to my trust fund when I turn 25, or if I get married.” Hope said with a frown.

“You have the most precious gift of all, Hope.” Lizzie commented. “You love him. You can give him your heart, and there isn’t any amount of material objects in this world that can measure up to that.” She explained.

“That’s only if he reciprocates my feelings.” Hope muttered.

“Which he does.” Josie insisted.

“You don’t know that for sure. No one knows how Ryan feels about me, but Ryan. And I’m telling you, if he wanted to be with me, he would have asked me out already, and he hasn’t, so clearly he doesn’t have any kind of romantic feelings for me.” Hope argued.

“Just come out and tell him how you feel, Hope. What’s the worst that could happen?” Lizzie asked.

“He could laugh in my face and leave me heartbroken.” Hope replied.

“Okay... true, although morbid. But you need to lay your cards on the table, Hope.” Josie said.

“You trust, us, right Hope?” Lizzie asked.

“Of course I do.” Hope replied. “Neither of you would be here if I didn’t.”

“Then trust us on this. If you make the first move, and ask Ryan out on a real date, he’ll agree.” Lizzie said.

Before Hope could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, and Ryan stuck his head inside with his hand over his eyes. The fact that he wasn’t looking made all three girls giggle. Beneath his hand, Hope could see a smile pulling at his lips.

“Hope, can I, uh, talk to you in the hallway for a moment?”

“Sure.”

Standing up from her spot on the floor, Hope made her way over to Ryan, took his free hand in hers, and led him out to the hallway. Once the door clicked shut behind them, Ryan lowered his hand and gave Hope a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. The smile that had been on Hope’s face fell and she took Ryan’s face in her hands.

“What’s wrong, Ryan?” Hope asked.

“Hope... do you think we’re boyfriend and girlfriend?” Ryan asked slowly.

“No... why?” Hope replied.

“You said this morning that the others haven’t been acting like couples because you didn’t have a boyfriend. And then when they all showed up, and Kaleb started to ask if we were together, you cut him off and said no, we weren’t. So I’m confused. Did you just misspeak this morning?” Ryan inquired.

“Yes. Because we _aren’t_ boyfriend and girlfriend, Ryan. And the only reason we aren’t is because neither of us have asked the other to be officially together.” Hope replied.

When Ryan just nodded slowly, Hope sighed in her head. She had just given him a big chance to ask her out, and he wasn’t taking it. Placing her hands on Ryan’s shoulders, Hope jumped up, wrapping her legs around Ryan’s waist, and her arms around his neck, before pressing her lips to his, and running her tongue along the seam of his lips, seeking entrance. As Ryan moved to support Hope between his body and the wall, he gave her the entrance she was looking for, and the kiss deepened.

“Hope Andrea Mikaelson, you better not be having sex right now!” Klaus called up from downstairs, causing Hope and Ryan to break apart.

“Just saying goodnight to Ryan, Dad.” Hope called back before giving Ryan one more peck on the lips and untangling herself from around Ryan’s body.

“Good night, Princess.” Ryan muttered while pressing a kiss to Hope’s forehead.

“Good night, Ryan.” Hope muttered back.


	7. Chapter 7

Erotomania

Chapter 7

\--

The following morning was a bit crazy. Ryan tried to get Hope alone for a moment, just to follow up their conversation from the night before, but he didn’t get a chance. Lizzie and Josie kept whispering something to Hope every time he took a step in her direction, and Kaleb and MG kept him close. He had no idea why their friends seemed so adamant to keep the apart, but he eventually stopped trying to get Hope alone. He trusted their friends, and he was sure that they had their reason for keeping him from going to her. But when they got to his house after Seylah and Landon left for the University, there was a brief moment when he thought that he would have Hope helping him pack up his stuff in his room, things got switched around, and he, Kaleb and MG ended up packing his stuff from around the rest of the house while Hope, Lizzie and Josie packed up his room.

Once all of the boxes were packed up, the guys worked on getting Ryan’s furniture taken apart and loaded into the back of Ryan’s SUV before piling as many boxes in as they could. And then all of them headed back to Hope’s house. It took a couple more trips to get everything from Ryan’s house to Hope’s, but once the guys returned with the last load of everything, the group got to work with getting all of the broken down furniture and boxes sorted neatly into the storage space. It was only after that was done that Ryan had a chance to take Hope’s hand in his and lead her away from their friends. Once they were out of ear shot, Ryan turned to face Hope and opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead Hope wrapped her arms around his neck, pushed herself up onto her toes and pressed her lips to his.

“You’re officially out of that house, Ry.” Hope muttered against his lips.

“Now I need to find my own place... which I probably won’t be able to afford.” Ryan replied with a sigh.

“You and my Dad made a deal, remember? As long as you help him get his old car fixed up, you can stay here.” Hope said.

“I took a look at the car last night, Hope. From what I can tell, it’s just a few cosmetic things that need to touched up. Your dad said that it runs, so I don’t see it taking us very long to fix it up.” Ryan said.

“Maybe we can ask him to cover some of the cost of an apartment for you?” Hope suggested.

“Hope, you and your dad have already done so much for me over the last few days, I can’t ask him to do that, and I can’t let you ask him on my behalf.” Ryan said.

“So what are you going to do?” Hope asked.

“I need to sit down, figure out how much I’m paying for things already, and see what I can afford in the ways of an apartment. Even if I have to have a roommate that I split rent with...” Ryan trailed off. “Maybe moving out was a rash decision.” He muttered.

“No, Ryan, it wasn’t. You didn’t feel welcome there, and you should always feel welcome in your own home. Please, Ryan, let me see what I can do. Maybe my dad will let you stay longer so you can save some money.” Hope pleaded.

“Hope, I’ll be okay. Really, I don’t want to be a burden to you and your family.” Ryan said. “Especially since the rest of your family already thinks I shouldn’t be anywhere near you.”

Hope pulled away from Ryan at that and wrapped her arms around herself. As her eyes filled with tears, Hope turned her head away from Ryan. She had no idea why she was crying. Maybe it was the fact that Ryan didn’t want her help anymore, or that he had brought up what her family had said about him, or maybe it was something else entirely. But whatever the reason, her eyes were filled with tears and she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. When Ryan saw her lightly shaking and wiping at her eyes, he kicked himself before pulling her and pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Please don’t cry, Princess.” Ryan muttered as he rubbed her back.

“I want to help you, Ryan. Why won’t you let me?” Hope whispered.

“Because I already have no way of repaying you and your dad for your kindness and hospitality. I don’t want to take any more favors from you without being able to repay you.” Ryan replied.

“You don’t have to repay us, Ryan. I care about you, and my dad sees you as a part of our family, despite what my aunts and uncles say. Please, let us help you as much as we can.”

Ryan sighed. He didn’t like it when Hope cried and sounded so broken. He down right hated it that he had been the one to make her cry. Especially since this was not the conversation that he had been wanting to have with her all morning. And if he didn’t fix this, and fast, she might not be open to him asking her to be his girlfriend anymore. Because that was what he had taken away from her comment the night before. That if he asked her to be his girlfriend, that she would say yes. But if she felt that way, why hadn’t she asked _him_ the night before?

“What can I do to make you feel better, Princess? I hate that I made you cry.” Ryan said softly.

“Will you let me talk to my dad and see what we can do to help you?” Hope asked as she tilted her head back to look up at him.

“We can talk to him together.” Ryan said with a small nod. “Is there anything else that I can do?”

“Don’t try to push me away again. You are one of the most important people in my life, Ryan. And if I see that you are in a tight spot, in any way, and I offer my help, it’s because I truly believe that there’s something that I _can_ do to help.”

“I don’t like feeling like a burden, Hope... so while I will do everything in my power to not push you away, I have to ask that you be patient with me.”

“Deal.”

Tilting Hope’s chin up, Ryan pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss before pulling away and spinning her around. Wrapping his arms around her waist, Ryan rested his chin on the top of her head and glanced over at their friends. After all of the packing and moving and sorting, Josie and Lizzie were sitting at the edge of the pool with their feet in the water, while MG and Kaleb had moved over to the basketball court and were shooting hoops. With Klaus having let all of their professors know that none of them would be in classes that day and moving everything had only taken half of the day, they had the rest of the day to do whatever they wanted. With a smirk, Ryan scooped Hope into his arms, causing her to squeal, and then she was landing in the water, breaking the surface a second later with a glare on her face.

“You are dead, Clarke.” She said, but Ryan didn’t hear any malice behind her words. He did, however, see a mischievous glint in her eyes, causing him to swallow hard.

“What are you going to do, Mikaelson?” Ryan asked as he moved to squat at the edge of the pool.

“Help me out?” Hope asked innocently.

“I’m not falling for that, Hope. You are deceptively strong for your size, and I know that the second I offer you my hand to help you out, you’re going to pull me in, instead.” Ryan said with a smirk.

“Fine. Be that way.” Hope said as she placed her hands on the edge of the pool and lifted herself out.

Once she was out, Hope feigned losing her footing, and when Ryan reached to catch her, she pushed him in.

“Clever girl. But you do realize that it’s on now, right?” Ryan asked when he broke the surface of the water and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

“Think carefully before you declare war on me, Ryan. You wouldn’t want to underestimate me, would you?” Hope asked as pulled her wet clothes off so that she was in her swimsuit.

“Okay, that’s not fair, Hope.” Ryan said with a groan.

“Everything’s fair in war, Ryan. Are you sure you still want to go up against me?” Hope asked.

Ryan looked Hope up and down before glancing over his shoulder at their friends. When he realized that none of the others were seemingly going to help him, Ryan sighed and climbed out of the pool. Striping down to his boxers, Ryan closed the distance between him and Hope and wrapped his arms around her before giving her a kiss. When he felt Hope smirk into the kiss, Ryan smirked back before breaking the kiss, tossing Hope over his shoulder and then jumping into the pool. When they came back up from the water, Hope was wrapped tightly around Ryan, and she had a determined look in her eyes. One that Ryan mentally catalogued as one of the sexiest looks that he had ever seen Hope have.

“You’re move, Mikaelson.” Ryan commented with a smirk.

“Do you really think you can best a Mikaelson in a water war, Clarke? Because if you do, you are sadly mistaken.” Hope replied in a low voice.

“Do you want to know what I think, Princess? I think you’re all talk. You say that you can best _me_ , then prove it.” Ryan replied before pressing his lips to Hope’s neck.

With Ryan trying to distract her, Hope smirked before pushing him under the water and swimming towards their friends. Before she could reach the others, though, Ryan managed to grab her ankle and lightly pulling her back towards him. When she turned in the water to face him, all the playfulness from a moment ago was gone, and Ryan’s pupils were blown wide. In a matter of seconds, Ryan had Hope pinned between his body and the wall of the pool.

“I think we should up the fun.” Ryan said loud enough for the others to hear him, but never taking his eyes off of Hope.

“How so?” Lizzie asked slowly.

“Girls vs guys. We each come up with a water game to play, and whichever team has the most wins once all 6 games are finished gets a prize.” Ryan replied.

“Why are you trying to pull us into your little war?” MG asked.

“Because you’re our friends, and it’ll be fun.” Hope said.

“Does it have to be 6 different games? Or can we play one game that has teams?” Josie asked.

“What game do you have in mind?” Hope questioned, breaking eye contact with Ryan to glance over at Josie.

“You have a net for water volleyball. Best 2 of 3 games wins.” Josie commented.

Once everyone agreed, the others went inside to change, leaving Hope and Ryan alone to set up the net. As soon as it was set up, Ryan pulled Hope into his embrace and pressed his lips to hers.

“Ryan, why did you throw me into the pool?” Hope asked.

“We needed something to do for the rest of the day.” Ryan replied with a shrug.

“And you thought throwing me into the pool was the solution?” Hope questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“It gave me a chance to see you soaking wet.” Ryan replied and Hope gasped.

Unfortunately, their friends had really, really, _really_ bad timing, and chose that exact moment to return from the house, and Hope didn’t get a chance to respond to Ryan’s comment. But it never left her mind. Ryan wanted to see her soaking wet. Had that been a reference to sex? Hope tried, multiple times, for the rest of the day, to catch Ryan’s eye to see if his words had held a double meaning, based on how he was looking at her, but every time she tried to get his attention, Ryan purposefully looked elsewhere. Even when they were playing volleyball. And after the match was over, with the girls winning, and the guys agreed to watch whatever movie the girls wanted to watch, and Hope and Ryan ended up sitting in the same position as they had been in the other night, Ryan would not meet Hope’s gaze.

Part way through the movie, Hope grumbled something under her breath and stood up before walking out of the living and heading towards the stairs. She hadn’t thought she would get out of the room, let alone almost to the bottom step. But that was the exact place that she was stopped by Ryan. When he spun Hope around to face him, Hope folded her arms across her chest and looked up at him expectantly. She wasn’t about to be the first one to speak when he had been more or less avoiding her for half of the day.

“Hope...” Ryan said slowly.

“Ryan.”

“Why are you upset with me?” Ryan asked.

“Figure it out.” Hope said before turning around and continuing to walk upstairs before Ryan grabbed her hand to stop her again.

“I honestly don’t know what I did wrong, Hope. Please, talk to me.” Ryan begged, his eyes pleading with her.

Hope tried to stay upset. She tried to glare at him. But she couldn’t. She had never been able to stay upset with Ryan for very long. Even before she had realized that she had developed feelings for him. There was just something about him that made it impossible for her unable to stay mad. So with a sigh, she stepped back down one stair so that they were eye level.

“You made a suggestive comment, and then avoided looking at me for the rest of the afternoon. Even when you pulled me into your lap to put us in the same position as the other night, _again_ , you didn’t actually look at me.” Hope said with a frown.

“Because the second I made that comment, I regretted saying it, Hope. I was embarrassed, and I _couldn’t_ look at you.” Ryan replied with a sigh.

“You could have pulled me aside when we came inside and told me that. Instead of basically half avoiding me all afternoon.” Hope whispered.

“I’m sorry, Hope.” Ryan said as he stepped up onto the stair that she was standing on and leaned against the banister while pulling her to him. “I hate making you upset, yet I’ve unintentionally done it twice today.” He said as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Can you forgive me, Princess?” He muttered.

“Of course I forgive you, Ry.” Hope said as she tilted her head back to look up at him.

“Will you come watch the rest of the movie with us?” Ryan asked.

“I’m exhausted, and I really just want to go to bed. It’s been a whirlwind weekend.” Hope replied with a sigh.

“Do you want company until you fall asleep?”

“Yes please.”

“Go upstairs and get ready for bed, and I’ll let the others know.”

With a nod, Hope headed upstairs and Ryan watched her walk away from him with a sigh. They weren’t dating, she had cleared the up for him the night before, but he felt like, at this point, it would just be a formality to ask her to be his girlfriend. But it was a formality that Hope clearly wanted. She wanted that semi-traditional step of being asked to each other’s boyfriend and girlfriend. She wanted that title officially. But watching her walk up the stairs, Ryan still didn’t feel like he deserved to be her boyfriend. She was the best thing in his life, and he had already made her upset twice in one day. How was he going to keep her happy if they started dating if he couldn’t even last a day without having said or done something that made her upset? With a groan, Ryan ran his hands over his face once he heard Hope’s bedroom click shut behind her and turned to the living room, only to find their friends standing in the doorway.

“We heard pretty much everything.” Kaleb said as he rested an arm on Lizzie’s shoulder.

“Way to sugar coat it, Kaleb.” Ryan commented dryly.

“Ryan, you know that Hope has never been able to stay mad at you for an extended period of time, right?” Josie asked.

“She hasn’t?”

“No, she hasn’t. She’s tried. But it never lasts. I think the longest time was clocked at... what would you say, Liz? An hour?” Josie questioned, turning to her sister.

“Yep. An hour is her longest time of being mad at you. She’s frustrated over you pretty much 24/7, but... OW! What the hell, Jo?”

“Stop talking, Liz. Right. Now.” Josie warned.

“Right, sorry.” Lizzie mumbled.

“The point is Ryan; you would have to do something extremely horrible to get Hope to not forgive you. Saying one inappropriate comment that you instantly regretted saying, and then being too embarrassed to tell her that, that’s nothing.” MG explained.

“Well, doing something extremely horrible, or just acting your brother, that would make her not forgive you, too.” Lizzie commented. “OW! Why did you hit me that time?” She asked, glaring at her twin.

“Stop. Talking.” Josie repeated.

“Go be with your girl.” Kaleb said over his shoulder as he turned Lizzie back towards the living room and guided her back to the couch that they had commandeered.

“Yeah, we’ll see if Klaus can drive us all home.” Josie said as she took MG’s hand in hers.

With a nod at his friends’ retreating backs, Ryan took the stairs two at a time to reach the landing and then knocked softly on Hope’s door. She opened it almost instantly, and when she did, Ryan’s breath caught in her throat. She was wearing an overly large t-shirt that fell to mid-thigh... and it had been one of his. Specifically one that he had thought he had lost on one of his family’s very rare vacations. Seeing Hope wearing it, and guessing she wasn’t necessarily wearing anything underneath it, it was a huge turn on and Ryan was pulling her in for a kiss. Hope jumped up into Ryan’s arms and wrapped her legs around his waist and Ryan walked the short distance to her bed. When they landed on the bed, Ryan ran his hands slowly up Hope’s thighs under the hem of the shirt and had to curse mentally to himself when his suspicions were confirmed of her not wearing anything underneath. When he went to push the shirt up her stomach, Hope’s hands fell on top of Ryan’s and stilled his movements.

“Not tonight. I’m too tired to do anything more than kiss you right now.” Hope said.

“Okay. But I have to tell you... I thought I lost this shirt on a family vacation. How do you have it?” Ryan asked.

“You left it here after my birthday party last year. Are you mad that I kept it?”

“Absolutely not. Just glad that it’s being worn by the prettiest girl I know.”

“Good, because I had no intention of giving it back now.”

With a smirk, Ryan pressed his lips to Hope’s one last time before pulling the covers back on her bed so that she could slide under them. Once she was situated, Ryan draped his arm over Hope’s waist and held her close. But Hope wasn’t having that. Moving over, Hope lifted the covers and gave Ryan a pointed look. Not wanting to risk upsetting her once again, Ryan slid under the covers and pulled her close. With a kiss to her forehead, both of them were asleep within minutes.


	8. Chapter 8

Erotomania

Chapter 8

\--

Tuesday morning brought it’s own set of challenges. For one, neither Hope nor Ryan had set an alarm the night before, so when they did wake up, they were both running late to get ready for their first classes of the day. For two, as they were rushing to get ready, neither of them could stop themselves from stealing small little kisses from the other. By the time they managed to get to campus, they were just barely sitting down in their respective seats in their respective classes when their classes started. For Hope that was a History of Art class, but for Ryan, it was regular history class.

“Nice of you to join us, Ryan.” Alaric said.

“Sorry Professor, overslept this morning.” Ryan replied with a straight face.

“I see.” Alaric commented with a small chuckle.

Ryan glared at the older male. He might have been friends with the man’s daughters, but did he really have to act like he knew the _exact_ reason Ryan had overslept? It really wouldn’t be doing Ryan any favors for people to start rumors about who he spends his nights with before anything had actually happened between him and Hope. Other than her being way out of his league, her being the Dean’s daughter in particular was one of the prevailing reason he hadn’t asked her out yet. But the past weekend had brought a shift in their friendship, and he needed to get his act together and ask her. Klaus already seemed to approve of them being together, but Ryan still planned on asking the man if he could date Hope.

_Can’t stop thinking about you wearing nothing but my shirt to bed last night._ _😉 – R_

**If you play your cards right, you might get a repeat of that tonight. – H**

_Careful, Hope, I might just skip my next class to keep you to myself. – R_

**That would be a good way to _not_ play your cards right. Be a good boy and stay in class. – H**

Ryan groaned. All he could think of was having Hope beneath him and slowly revealing her entire body to him. How the hell was he supposed to stay in class, and be able to focus on what his professors were saying when images of Hope kept playing on a loop in his mind? The end of his class with Alaric couldn’t come soon enough. Because Ryan needed to get out of there and take care of the problem that had arisen in his pants. And he had half a mind to bring Hope with him when he took care of it. She had been the cause of it, after all. But he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. If he was seen leading Hope to his TA’s office, and then the blinds being closed so that they could some privacy, rumors would definitely start flying. So he was going to have to take care of it himself. But by the time the class ended, Ryan couldn’t get out of the classroom fast enough, and Alaric was asking him to stay for a couple minutes. So with a sigh, Ryan stayed where he was and waited impatiently for the rest of the class to empty out before looking at Alaric.

“Can we make this quick, Alaric? I kind of have a pressing matter to deal with.” Ryan said.

“Oh, I don’t want to talk to you, Ryan. Caroline does.” Alaric said as he nodded to the door where Lizzie and Josie’s mother stood.

“Did I do something wrong?” Ryan asked.

“Quite the opposite actually, I have a request.” Caroline said as she walked over to Alaric and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

“What request would that be?” Ryan questioned.

“The live model that I had gotten for my drawing class tomorrow had to back out, and I was wondering if you would like to step in. Alaric has already agreed to let you skip class tomorrow, if you agree.” Caroline explained.

“What kind of modeling are we talking about?” Ryan asked slowly.

“It would be nude, but my students need to learn to draw the entirety of the human body.” Caroline replied carefully.

“Hope’s in your class tomorrow, right?” Ryan asked as an idea struck him.

“She is.” Caroline said with a nod.

“I’ll do it.” Ryan agreed.

“And you will be paid for your time.” Caroline added.

“Thank you. Can I go now?” Ryan asked.

“Go ahead.”

With that, Ryan bolted from his seat and hurried to his TA’s office. The thought of Hope seeing _him_ naked and having no choice but to draw him as such, well, that had just made him more aroused, and even more in need of relieving himself. When he reached his office, he had just barely closed and locked the door before he was freeing his erection with one hand and pulling up the picture of Hope on his phone with the other. With Hope’s messages fresh in his mind, and her picture on his phone, Ryan didn’t last very long before reaching his release. Before he could clean himself up, there was a knock on his office door, and a very familiar voice coming from the other side.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

As she slipped her phone back into her pocket, Hope couldn’t help but smirk. She knew that she was teasing him, but she had always enjoyed teasing Ryan. And after spending the weekend together, spending a lot of that time together kissing each other, and spending two nights out of 3 in the same bed, the teasing had taken on a new level. She just prayed that she didn’t get him into trouble with Lizzie and Josie’s dad. Unlike her where she sat in the back row of her classroom, Hope knew that Ryan sat in the front row of Alaric’s class. So between the two of them, Ryan would be the one that would easily be caught with his phone out during class. The rest of class passed pretty quickly and Hope happily packed up her stuff before heading out to find her friends. Before she could slip out of the classroom, however, her professor stopped her.

“Hope, I know that you are the Dean’s daughter, but please try to be more considerate of when you arrive to class.”

“I’m so sorry, Emma. I forgot to set my alarm last night and woke up late. I promise it won’t happen again.” Hope replied.

“Make sure that it doesn’t. I can’t show any special treatment. It would put my job at risk, and it would only open the flood gates for your classmates to see you as spoiled.” Emma commented. “Since this is your first offense, it will be your first and only warning on the matter.”

With a nod, Hope headed out into the hall, ready to get something to eat for lunch. However, her path was quickly blocked by Landon and Rafael.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Hope asked as she moved around them.

“We could ask you the same thing. We’ve been getting the silent treatment from everyone all weekend. So what was going on that we weren’t invited to?” Landon asked as he went to take Hope’s hand.

“I had family over for the weekend. I’m not sure what everyone else was doing.” Hope replied as she moved her hand away from Landon’s and adjusted the strap of her book bag.

“I stopped by on Sunday, and I didn’t see any extra cars at your place.” Landon said, and his accusatory tone didn’t go unnoticed by Hope.

“Are you accusing me of lying, Landon?” Hope snapped.

“He was asking your dad for permission to ask you out.” Rafael commented.

“I know, when I got home from the store that morning, my dad told me.” Hope said, her hard gaze never leaving Landon’s guilty one. “Are you accusing me of lying about what I was doing all weekend?” She asked Landon again.

“No... I’m just... I’m just confused, Hope. If you had family over, where were they when I stopped by?” Landon asked.

“My dad and I have 1 guest room at our house, Landon. My entire family would not fit into that one guest room. And since none of them actually live in town, where the hell do you think they were? They stayed at a hotel.” Hope said. “Now, I’m going to go get some lunch. I’ll see you both around.” She added before walking away from them.

By the time she turned the far corner of the hallway, Hope was close to breaking down, she was shaking so much. As she breathed slowly and deeply, she glanced up and saw Ryan rushing into his TA’s office at the other end of the hallway. Looking back around the corner from where she had just came from, Hope saw Landon and Rafael walking in the opposite direction and she hurried to Ryan’s office and knocked lightly.

“Ry? Can I come in? I wanted to talk about what was covered in class last week.” Hope said.

She had to say something that wouldn’t give away how close they had gotten over the weekend. She waited for a moment, hearing Ryan moving around before she heard the click of the door being unlocked and opening enough for her to slip inside. Once she was completely in the room, Ryan closed and relocked the door behind her before turning to face her.

“Am I, uh, interrupting?” Hope asked as she noticed his jeans were open.

“You know perfectly well what you did, Princess. I had to do something to relieve the pressure.” Ryan replied.

“Oh!” Hope said in a surprised whisper. “Sorry, Ryan. I didn’t think my texts would get that much of a reaction.” She added as she looked away from him.

“Well they did, and I’m pretty sure Alaric knows why I was nearly late for class. I told him I overslept, and his reaction gave the implication that he knew why I overslept.” Ryan said as he moved around his desk and cleaned himself up. “You said you wanted to talk about class?” He asked as he grabbed Hope’s hand and pulled her into his lap.

“Not really. But I just got cornered by Landon and Raf.” Hope said as she draped her arms around Ryan’s neck.

“What did they want?”

“They wanted to know why everyone was giving them the silent treatment all weekend. When I told them that I had had family over for the weekend, Landon accused me of lying. He also tried holding my hand.”

“I take it that you didn’t let him do that?”

“Absolutely not. I moved my hand away and adjusted the strap on my bag.”

Ryan nodded at that before turning his head and pressing a kiss to Hope’s wrist. Leaning in, Hope turned Ryan’s head so that he was looking up at her and she pressed her lips to his.

“Maybe I could make it up to you?” She whispered.

“Only if you’re comfortable doing so.” Ryan replied.

“Would you be able to make it through the rest of the day if I don’t help?”

“I think I’m screwed either way, Princess. If you don’t, then it’ll be painful all day; but if you do, I’ll be imagining you going down on me for the rest of the day.”

Hope bit her lower lip at Ryan’s words. It was her fault that he was in the situation, so it was only fair that she help him take care of it. But that would be crossing yet another line in their relationship that they wouldn’t be able to uncross. And she had put it out there Sunday night that the only reason they weren’t dating was because neither of them had ask the other one, letting Ryan know that if he were to ask her, she would say yes, so doing this, giving him a blow job to help me with the very obvious erection that she had caused him to get, it was the right thing to do. Crossing lines be damned. So with one more kiss for a bit of courage, Hope climbed off of Ryan’s lap and knelt down in front of him.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Princess? You really don’t have to if you aren’t sure, or if you’re nervous.” Ryan said softly.

“I want to. I’ve just never done this before, so I might need you to guide me through it a bit.” Hope replied.

“Then let’s not do this here... let’s do this at home.” Ryan urged.

“I’m not going to leave you to be in pain all day... not when it’s my fault and when I can do something to help you.” Hope said as her gaze hardened in determination. “Just... guide me through it so I do what you like.”

“Okay.” Ryan said with a nod as he stood up so as to be able to lower his jeans and boxers.

When he sat back down, Hope’s eyes widened. She had imagined what his dick would look like many times. The length of it was to be expected, given his height, but she hadn’t expected it to be as wide as it was. But that didn’t deter her. Tentatively wrapping one hand around the base, Hope leaned forward and took the tip into her mouth. Ryan’s hands came down to the back of her head and he laced his fingers into Hope’s hair to lightly guide her to take more of him into her mouth, but before they could get much further, the door handle started rattling and someone was pounding on the door.

“Let me in Ryan. I know you’re in there, I can see the light on.” Landon called through the door.

“There’s a reason the door is locked, Landon. I’m busy.” Ryan called back.

“And we need to talk, so put whatever your doing on hold and come open the door.” Landon said.

Ryan clenched his jaw and gave Hope an apologetic look as he eased her off of him. Motioning for her to stay hidden under the desk, Ryan stood up and tucked his dick away before walking around the desk and opening the door just enough for him to see Landon, but not enough for Landon to see into the office, or to actually be able to get in.

“What the hell do you want?” Ryan asked.

“Mom’s pissed.” Landon stated.

“Yeah, I know the feeling. It’s how I feel towards you, right now. But that doesn’t tell me what you want.” Ryan replied.

“You moved out. And she’s pissed that you did. She wants to know where you’re staying.” Landon said.

“Well, you can tell her that it’s none of her business, or yours. Is that all?”

“No... how did you know that Hope’s family was coming into town?”

“Not that that’s any of your business, either, but she mentioned it when I was dropping her off Friday night. Now, as I’ve already told you, I’m busy, so go away.”

Slamming the door in his brother’s face, Ryan quickly locked it and moved back to his chair and glanced down at Hope who was glaring over her shoulder, through the desk and the office door, at Landon. Despite his brother’s interruption ruining the moment, Hope’s glare had Ryan lightly chuckling as he offered her his hands and helped her up.

“It’s a good thing we took Dad’s old car to school today.” Hope commented in a low voice.

“Why’s that, Princess?” Ryan asked he rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs.

“If he gets it into his head to try to follow me home today, he wouldn’t know that you’re the one driving the car. He’ll be looking for your SUV.” Hope said before straddling Ryan’s lap and pressing a kiss to his neck. “Plus it has a bench seat in the front, so we can continue this on the way home.” She added in a seductive voice directly in Ryan’s ear.

“Is that a promise?” Ryan asked.

“Absolutely.”

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

By the time their last classes of the day ended, Ryan and Hope couldn’t get to each other fast enough. Ryan had been irritable for the rest of the day, simply because his arousal was still a bit painful and because, as he had mentioned to Hope, all he could think about for the rest of the day was her on her knees going down on him. Hope, on the other hand, couldn’t get the thought of straddling Ryan’s lap out of her head. But when they both got out of class, they still couldn’t get to each other right away. Because once again, Hope’s path was blocked by Landon.

“Hey, uh, can we talk?” Landon asked.

“About what?” Hope questioned as she locked eyes with Ryan over Landon’s shoulder.

“Earlier... I wanted to make sure you didn’t still think that I was accusing you of lying about your family.” Landon said.

“But that’s exactly what you did, Landon. And my dad did tell me that you stopped by, and while you’re a good person, I have no interest in dating you. I have to go.” Hope said as she stepped around him, only for him to grab her arm.

“Hope... please, give me a chance. I can change your mind; I know I can’t.” Landon said.

“Let go of my arm, Landon.” Hope stated with a glare.

“Say you’ll give me a chance to prove you wrong.” Landon replied, his grip tightening.

“There’s nothing to prove wrong, Landon. And it’s not an ultimatum. Let. Go. Of. My. Arm.” Hope said through clenched teeth.

Instead of doing what she told him to do, Landon used his hold on Hope’s arm to pull her into him and press his lips to hers in a sloppy and demanding kiss. Before Hope could react by pushing him off of her, or kneeing him in the crotch, she was pulled away from Landon while Landon was being held back. Glancing up, Hope met her father’s eyes as he held her close. Looking over at Landon, Hope sighed in relief at seeing Ryan holding his brother in a headlock.

“Are you alright Sweetheart?” Klaus asked.

“No. He grabbed my arm when I went to walk around him, and after I told him twice to let go, he kissed me.” Hope replied shakily.

“Ryan, take Landon to my office. Kaleb, MG, stay with Hope.” Klaus instructed and Hope looked around to see her friends standing close by.

Once Ryan had Landon far enough down the hall, Klaus passed Hope over to her friends before following the brothers. When they had turned the corner, Hope turned to her friends.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Hope muttered.

“Let’s get you to the restroom. Kaleb, MG, can you two go to the student store and get a thing of mouthwash for her?” Lizzie asked.

“I’ll go. Kaleb should stay with the three of you.” MG offered.

“Just be quick.” Josie commented.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

By the time Hope and Ryan were both home, neither were in the mood to do anything other than just lay in each other’s arms. And as soon as Ryan’s arms were wrapped tightly around her, Hope broke down and started crying. She mumbled an apology through her tears, but Ryan assured her that she had nothing to be sorry for. He knew that she wasn’t at fault for what had happened. It had all been Landon’s doing. And for the pain that Landon had caused, Ryan swore to himself that he would not let his brother get away with it. Landon was going to pay for what he had done, one way or another.


	9. Chapter 9

Erotomania

Chapter 9

\--  
Ryan didn’t sleep that night. He was too worried about Landon showing up at Hope’s house and trying something again to sleep. He wanted- no he _needed_ \- to protect Hope to the best of his abilities. And if that meant not sleeping so that he could fight off any harm that might befall her, then that’s what he planned to do. He and Klaus had agreed, even though Ryan and Hope weren’t dating, that it was okay, going forward, that Ryan and Hope slept in the same room. Landon’s actions had crossed a line that Klaus could not forgive, and Ryan made Hope happy and kept her feeling safe. And that was enough for Klaus to put an end to his own rule. But staying awake brought on its own issues for Ryan. Like overthinking what he had agreed to do the next day for Hope’s drawing class. That was something that Ryan had definitely _not_ told Klaus about.

Halfway through the night, however, after having falling asleep from crying and having still been wearing her regular clothes, Hope had woken up suddenly and mumbled something about needing to change. Ryan couldn’t tell if she was fully awake, or only partially awake, but either way, Hope didn’t seem to realize that he was there. Especially when she started undressing without asking him to step out of the room. Ryan tried to look away from Hope to give her some form of privacy, but he couldn’t help it. He had always known that Hope was beautiful, and after what they had _almost_ done earlier that day, he was enjoying seeing her naked body as she pulled his t-shirt on and then climbed back into bed, curling up against his side and draping a leg over one of his.

Wrapping his arms around Hope, Ryan pulled her on top of him and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He knew that he would have an even more painful erection come morning than he had been dealing with all day, but to be able to hold Hope close, to keep her safe, it was something that Ryan would live with. Hope was all that mattered to him. And after everything with Landon, Ryan swore to himself that he wasn’t going to push Hope for sex. If she wanted it, then he would give her what she asked, but if she didn’t, then he wouldn’t force himself on her. Swearing that to himself, though, had Ryan shuddering at the possibility that that’s exactly what Landon could have been planning if he and Klaus hadn’t pulled Landon away from Hope. God, he hated his brother.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

The following morning, Hope woke up slowly and felt something pressed against her stomach. Slowly opening her eyes, Hope took in hers and Ryan’s position and what she was wearing. She was in nothing except Ryan’s t-shirt again, and she was laying on top of Ryan. The only issue with both of those things- not that she actually _had_ an issue with either thing- was that she firmly knew that she had been wearing her regular clothes from the day before when she had fallen asleep the night before, curled up against Ryan’s side. The only thing that she could think was that she had woken up in the middle of the night to change. And she could only pray that Ryan had been asleep himself when she had done so. Bracing her hands on Ryan’s chest, Hope slowly sat up and looked at Ryan’s sleeping face. Even asleep, he looked like he was battling mental demons instead of looking peaceful. She couldn’t help feeling like what had happened with Landon the day before had something to do with what Ryan was seeing in his mind.

As the memories of what Landon had done flooded her memory, Hope had the overwhelming sensation of being sick and she was bolting from the bed and to the bathroom, just managing to reach the toilet before emptying what little contents she had in her stomach into the bowl. Sitting back shakily, Hope held her head in one hand and her stomach with another. She closed her eyes against to try to fight back the onslaught of the memories again, but it didn’t work and she was leaning over the toilet once more. This time as she sat back, Ryan was behind her, wrapping his arms lightly around her. As she breathed deeply, Hope let Ryan’s presence calm her down. She felt him shift behind her and then a cool washcloth was being pressed to her forehead.

“I think you should get a restraining order against him, Sweetheart.” Klaus commented from the doorway and Hope opened her eyes to look at him.

“He would have to be removed from the school if I did that.” Hope commented.

“I don’t care about that, Hope. He assaulted you yesterday, and just the memories of it are making you physically sick. You’re safety is more important than his continued education at our school.”

“Give me some time to think about it, Dad. Yes, I hate him for what he did, but I don’t want to ruin his chance at a good education if it’s avoidable.” Hope said with a sigh.

With a tight nod, Klaus headed downstairs. Once her father was gone, Hope leaned back against Ryan’s chest and let out a shaky breath. As she did so, Ryan turned the washcloth over and pressed it against Hope’s neck and then back to her forehead. When the washcloth was no longer cool to the touch, and was doing nothing to help Hope’s fevered skin, Ryan set it to the side pressed his lips to Hope’s neck in a light kiss.

“Are you feeling any better, Princess?” Ryan muttered.

“With you holding me, I want to say yes, but no. I don’t. I still feel like I’m going to be sick.” Hope replied as she lifted her hands to her hair and pulled it over her shoulder so that Ryan had more access to her neck.

“What can I do to make you feel better?” Ryan asked.

“I have some ideas.” Hope mumbled.

Lacing her fingers with Ryan’s, Hope moved his hands to where she wanted them to be touching her body. One hand was cupping her breast while the other rested just above/below the apex of her legs and Ryan let out a shuddering breath as he pressed his lips to Hope’s neck more urgently. When Ryan didn’t start moving his hands of his own accord, Hope squeezed the hand on her breast and moved the hand on her thigh to between her legs.

“Fuck, Hope.” Ryan groaned.

“That’s the idea, Ryan.” Hope replied as she turned her head to pull him in for a kiss, only for Ryan to slightly turn away. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Give me a sec, Princess.” Ryan said as he managed to move his hands away from her body and stood up.

Hope watched Ryan closely as the beginnings of tears sprang to her eyes. _‘Great. Landon assaults me, and now Ryan wants nothing to do with me.’_ Hope thought as she blinked the tears back. When her vision cleared, Hope looked up at Ryan and found him handing her a cup of mouth wash and Hope ducked her head to hide her blush. Of course he hadn’t wanted to kiss her. She had just thrown up. Taking the cup in one hand, and Ryan’s hand in the other, Hope slowly stood up and tossing back the mouth wash. After she swirled it around in her mouth for a couple of minutes and spit it out, Hope glanced as her reflection. Only it wasn’t just her reflection that was looking back at her. It was her and Ryan. Locking eyes with him in the mirror, Hope let out a sigh.

“Please know that I do want to have sex with you, Hope, but I don’t want you to lock away what he did and pretend that it didn’t happen. I don’t want to see it eat you up from the inside. I want you in every way possible, Hope, but I don’t want you to think that you have to prove anything to me by us having sex.” Ryan said as he wrapped his arms around Hope’s waist and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

“Ryan, wanting to have sex with you has nothing to do with what he did. I’ve wanted to have sex with you for a while now. This weekend just shifted everything.” Hope replied as she held his gaze in the mirror.

“Do you want to stay home today?” Ryan asked as his lips moved from her shoulder to her neck.

“Would you be staying with me?” Hope asked in return as she leaned her head back against his shoulder and moved her hands up around the back of his neck.

“Until a decision is made on what you want to do about him, I either want myself, your father, Kaleb or MG by your side at all times. Since your father needs to be at the school, and Kaleb and MG don’t know what happened this morning, that just leaves me.” Ryan replied.

“You just made it sound like you don’t want to stay...” Hope trailed off with a frown.

Turning Hope around in his arms, Ryan lifted her up onto the counter and pressed his lips to hers in a deep kiss. When she opened her legs wider, Ryan stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her waist. Wrapping Hope’s legs around him, Ryan carried her back to her bedroom and laid her down on the bed. This time, when he started to push the hem of the shirt up, Hope didn’t stop him. And with every inch of exposed skin, Ryan placed kisses along Hope’s body.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

Klaus was pacing in his art studio. He had never been fond of Landon Kirby, but after the events that unfolded the day before, Klaus downright hated the boy. With Hope getting physically sick that morning because of the events that transpired the day before, Klaus had reached a level of loathing towards him. And now he had to contact Caroline and Alaric to inform them what had happened so that they knew that Hope and Ryan wouldn’t be in class. Well... contact Caroline to let her know that Hope and Ryan wouldn’t be in class, since she had informed him the day before that she had asked Ryan to model for Hope’s drawing class. Grabbing his phone from the table next to his easel, Klaus dialed Caroline’s number, almost regretting this decision when she answered on the first ring.

“ **Klaus, is Hope alright? The girls told me what happened with... what happened yesterday.** ” Caroline said, changing the direction of her statement part way through, knowing Klaus’ temper.

“That’s actually why I’m calling, Caroline. When she woke up this morning, she got physically sick because of what happened. She and Ryan will most likely be staying home today. So if it’s not too much trouble, can you switch your lesson plan for this week, with the one for next week?” Klaus asked with a sigh.

“ **Of course. And you know you can stay home for a day to be with your daughter, right, Klaus? You are first and foremost a father.** ” Caroline commented.

“As much as I want to be a father today, I need to properly handle things from an administrative standpoint. A female student was assaulted on campus, and there is a hallway full of other students that witnessed it happen. I need to talk to everyone who was there and consolidate all of the reports of what happened. And once that is finished, I need to bring in the boy and his mother.” Klaus said.

“ **And in the meantime, your daughter just has to deal with all of this without her father there to help her through it?** ” Caroline asked.

“She has Ryan, and your daughters. As well as Kaleb and MG. To be perfectly frank, I don’t think she wants me around right now. She’d much rather just have Ryan with her.”

“ **That’s bullshit, Klaus, and you know it. Whether she seems to need you or not, a girl never truly stops needing her father. Especially after something like what happened yesterday.** ”

“Caroline, please. Let me deal with this the way that I need to for now. If I put off punishing him in some way, he’ll think that he can do it again. And I will not put my daughter, or any other female student, in that kind of danger.”

“ **Fine... but make sure when you’re at home, you’re being a father and being there for Hope.** ”

“I always do, Caroline. I really didn’t call to get a lecture. I just called to request you switch your lesson plans. That’s all.”

“ **No, Klaus, you called because you also needed to talk to a friend.** ”

Klaus gave a small grunt of acknowledgement before ending the call. He was about to head upstairs to inform Hope and Ryan that he had cleared their absence from class today with Caroline but thought better of it. He would let them know that it had been cleared up when he got home that evening. He would allow them true privacy and time alone during the day. They were both adults, and he trusted them both to be responsible.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

As much as Hope had wanted to have sex with Ryan, when he went to completely remove the t-shirt, she chickened out. Despite what she knew of her parents relationship, and how they had fooled around a bit before they had started dating, her father had always instilled in her that as long as she lived under his roof, that she was not to have sex before being in a committed relationship. Now, more than ever before, she could see that committed relationship being with Ryan, but that feeling of disappointing her dad by breaking his main rule had Hope stopping short of letting Ryan see her completely naked. And if Ryan was getting upset with her for stopping him, he didn’t show it. And for that, Hope was grateful.

Over the next week, Ryan made sure that someone was by Hope’s side at all times. Klaus had finally talked to everyone that had been in the hallway that day and was gearing up to call Landon and Seylah into his office. But Ryan didn’t like the thought that Landon might try to spin what he did into something reciprocated from Hope. That somehow, despite her words, that Hope had _wanted_ to kiss him. That everyone else that had been around them was simply misinterpreting what had gone down. Because that would be something that Landon would do, and it would be something that Seylah would believe, because there was no way that her precious boy could ever assault someone. So if it wasn’t himself, Ryan made sure that Kaleb or MG were walking Hope to and from her classes if Klaus was busy as well. And because he wouldn’t put it past his half brother to try to get to Hope if she was just with Lizzie and Josie, Ryan insisted that one of the guys be with them as well.

And while the conversation of sex didn’t come up again over the week, Ryan and Hope both had it sitting in the back of their minds. Vocalizing to each other that they both wanted to have sex had been a huge step in their relationship, and it wasn’t something that either of them wanted to take back. It was out there, just like the topic of them not dating yet simply because neither had asked, so now it was only a matter of time before the next step was taken. And almost every night when they were sitting in Hope’s room studying, Hope eventually found herself drawing Ryan. Since the first day of her drawing class, Caroline had always pushed Hope and her classmates to draw people. And while she had never had much muse to draw people before, having these intimate moments with Ryan had her overflowing with muse.

It got to the point, exactly a week after everything had happened with Landon, that most of Hope’s drawings were of Ryan in various positions while studying, and a small handful were of her other friends. She felt ready to show her drawings to Caroline the following day in class.


	10. Chapter 10

Ryan wasn’t sure why he was still planning on doing this. Actually, he knew exactly why he was doing this. He was doing this because he wanted to be able to tell Hope that he was an idiot the previous week, and actually take that leap of faith to ask her to be his girlfriend. He should have asked her the second she clarified her statements that day. But he had chickened out, especially when she had jumped up into his arms, wrapped herself firmly around his body, and pressed her lips to his in the best good night kiss he’d ever had. And now here he was. About to model nude for Hope’s drawing class so that he had the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend. He was in the process of talking to Caroline, Hope’s professor and Lizzie and Josie’s mom, and was going over how long he would be modeling for, when Hope walked in and they locked eyes. Breaking away from some of her classmates who were ogling him, Hope walked over to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the corner of the room to have a semi-private conversation with him.

“What are you doing here, Ry? Shouldn’t you be in Ric’s class right now?” Hope asked.

“Normally, yes, but Caroline approached me Tuesday last week and asked me to model for your class today.” Ryan explained as he lifted his hand to push some of Hope’s hair behind her ear. “Actually she asked me to model for your class last week, but after everything that happened... your dad asked her to switch her lesson plans for last week and today.”

“Did you agree because I’m in the class? Or are you being paid?” Hope asked.

“You think I’m good looking enough to be a professional model?” Ryan countered with a smirk.

“I’m being serious, Ry. Why did you agree to do this?” Hope asked.

“I agreed because I knew you were in the class. And I am being paid.” Ryan replied. “But for the record, even if I wasn’t getting paid, I would have still agreed. That is simply a bonus.” He added. “And why are you so upset about this, Hope? You’ve been drawing me all week.”

“Ryan…” Hope started.

“It’s okay, Princess. We can talk after class.” Ryan said while pressing a light kiss to her forehead.

With a nod, Hope moved to her workstation to set up while Ryan moved to the platform in the middle of the room. It wasn’t until Hope sat down at her easel, and looked up at Ryan, that she realized just what kind of modeling session this was for him, and Hope’s face heated up. Not only was Ryan facing her directly, but he was doing so nude. Hope tried to cool her skin down, to get her mind off of just how many times over the last week he had almost seen her nude, but Ryan was staring straight at her, and wouldn’t look anywhere else. Glancing around, Hope noticed that every single one of the other girls in her class was eyeing Ryan, and Hope got pissed. No one else should be allowed to see him like this! He was taken. _Ryan Clarke belonged to her and her alone._

Returning her focus to the task at hand, Hope started drawing. She tried to draw based off memory from all of the drawings she already had, so that she only had to look up a few times, but she felt Ryan’s eyes continuously boring into her head, and she kept having to look at him. Each time that she did, Ryan smiled at her. Hope couldn’t help but smile back. By the end of the class, Hope felt like she had gotten a good portion of her drawing done, and she quickly started to pack up her things. She heard her classmates all trying to talk to Ryan at once, even as she kept dropping her art supplies. Dropping to her knees, Hope let out a sigh and started grabbing her fallen pencils. She faintly heard Ryan saying something and before she knew it, he was kneeling next to her, helping her clean up. When their fingers touched, Hope quickly pulled her hand away. Ryan sighed as he turned to sit next to her.

“Talk to me, Hope. Please, I can’t take you not saying anything, and acting like you’re mad at me for something.” Ryan said softly.

“Modeling for my drawing class is one thing, Ry… but _nude_?” Hope hissed as she stood up and tossed her supplies into her bag. _‘I don’t like other girls seeing you naked.’_ She added in her head.

“I needed to do something, Hope. I figured if I could do this, then I could ask you what I should have asked you last week.” Ryan said as he stood up and stepped closer to Hope.

“Ryan…” Hope said as she spun around to face him.

“I should have asked you this when you clarified your statements on us not dating, but I was too scared… Hope Mikaelson, will you be my girlfriend?” Ryan asked as he pulled Hope against him.

“Mhmm.” Hope replied, completely distracted by Ryan’s bare chest up close.

“Hope…” Ryan said with faux sternness as he tilted her chin up. “Will you be my girlfriend?” He asked again.

“You’re really asking?” Hope asked.

“Yes, I’m really asking. God, Hope, I’ve wanted to ask you for so long, but I never thought you would agree. But after everything that has happened between us over the last week and a half... this is me officially asking you.” Ryan said as he held Hope’s face in his hands and rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Yes. Absolutely yes.” Hope said with a smile as she pushed herself up onto her toes and pressed her lips to his.

“Well, then, Miss Mikaelson, I think I need to get you home so that we can make up for lost time.” Ryan muttered against Hope’s lips.

“Finish getting dressed. I don’t want other women staring at my boyfriend.” Hope replied.

**Legacies - Erotomania – Legacies**

As Ryan drove them home, Hope couldn’t keep her hands off of him. She had suggested that they could have sex while Ryan drove, but he quickly nixed that, as it was too dangerous, and he wanted to live long enough to take her on a proper first date. With a pout, Hope sat next to him in silence for a couple of minutes. Then with a smirk, Hope quickly undid Ryan’s belt and jeans before pulling his dick out and taking him into her mouth.

“Fuck, Princess.” Ryan groaned as he gripped the steering wheel with one hand and ran his fingers through her hair with the other hand.

Knowing that they couldn’t be interrupted this time around, Ryan pulled onto a side street so that the car, and more importantly, what they were doing, was hidden from anyone driving by, and turned the engine off. Before he could cum too quickly, Ryan eased his dick out of Hope’s mouth and pulled her onto his lap. When Hope looked at him with a pout, Ryan pulled her in for a kiss while easing himself into her pussy. The surprised gasp that fell from her lips quickly turned into a whimper and then a moan as Ryan pushed past her hymen until he was buried balls deep inside of her. Pulling back from the kiss, Ryan had to work to get Hope to meet his gaze.

“You didn’t tell me that you were a virgin, Hope.”

“It’s embarrassing.” Hope replied.

“Why would you be embarrassed to tell me that?” Ryan asked.

“Because... I felt like if I told you, you wouldn’t want me. You’ve had plenty of women throw themselves at you, so you’ve probably had tons of sex, and I didn’t want you to think of me as some little girl that you had to teach how to have sex. So I just didn’t say anything.” Hope rambled.

“For one, Hope, I’ve had sex with 1 other person before you. And that was my high school girlfriend. As for the women you are probably referring to, I don’t accept their gifts, and I’ve never gone home, or taken any of them to my bed. So I’m not nearly as experienced at sex as you think I am, because it’s been 8 years.” Ryan said as he brushed some of Hope’s hair behind her ear.

“You... you haven’t?” Hope asked.

“No. After my relationship ended with my high school girlfriend, I rebounded with a girl Freshman year of college, but that didn’t last long enough to even contemplate having sex with her, and since then the only girl I’ve wanted is you.” Ryan explained. “And even then, it was 5 years after the girl in Freshman year before I met you.” He added.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed. I’ve had a crush on you since I literally ran into you that first day we met. And I figured that all those older women could give you nice things, and I can’t, because I don’t have access to my trust fund until I turn 25, unless I get married before then, so I convinced myself that wouldn’t want me.” Hope mumbled as she looked away from Ryan.

“We are horrible communicators.” Ryan commented as he wrapped his arms around Hope’s waist and slowly started moving beneath her.

“What do you mean?” Hope asked slowly.

“I convinced _myself_ that you wouldn’t want me because I was nothing more than a bartender. That you were so far out of my league that I didn’t even have a chance of being your friend, let alone anything more.” Ryan replied.

“Let’s, um, work on that... later.” Hope said before capturing Ryan’s lips in a heated kiss.

With a hum of agreement, Ryan deepened the kiss and lifted Hope off of his dick before pulling her back down. As the kiss went on, Ryan worked on getting Hope’s blouse open. While he was sure that he loved all of whom Hope was as a person, he’d always been especially fascinated with her breasts, and he wanted to see them up close. Once he had the buttons undone, Ryan pulled back from the kiss to see how Hope was doing. When he saw that Hope wasn’t wearing a bra, his eyes went wide, and the question of if she was doing okay flew from his mind.

“Fuck, Princess.” Ryan groaned as he gripped Hope’s hips tightly and started bouncing her on his dick.

“Ryan... can we... can we switch to a different position... this one isn’t all that comfortable.” Hope inquired as she braced her hands on Ryan’s shoulders and tried to help with the pace that Ryan had set.

“Anything you want, Princess. It’s my job to make you feel good, and ensure you are happy.” Ryan replied as he flipped them over so that Hope was laying on the bench seat. “Are you close? Because I refuse to cum until you do.” He asked while leaning down and taking one of Hope’s heaving breasts into his mouth.

“I think so? Fuck, Ry, I need you to touch me.” Hope moaned.

With her breast still in his mouth, Ryan glanced up at Hope and they locked eyes, causing a shiver to run through Hope’s body. Once he released her breast, Ryan moved so that he was hovering over Hope and stared down at her lovingly. Slowly pulling out and then just as slowly pushing back in, Ryan set a torturously slow pace as his fingers ghosted over Hope’s exposed skin.

“Where do you want me to touch you, Princess?” Ryan asked, his voice low and thick with desire.

“Clit... pussy... please Ryan!” Hope cried out.

When Ryan moved his hands under Hope’s skirt and to her clit, neither of them lasted much longer. Hope wrapped her legs tightly around Ryan’s waist, and her inner walls clenched around his dick. As her orgasm washed over her, Hope gripped Ryan’s shoulders and moaned when she felt his release coat her womb. With a shuddering breath, Hope loosened her grip around Ryan’s waist and her arms fell to her sides. Ryan lowered his head to Hope’s chest and placed as many kisses on her neck and breasts as he could while Hope ran her fingers through his hair.

“Fuck.” Ryan muttered.

“What’s wrong? You’re not regretting this already are you? Because while it was a bit uncomfortable, given the confined space of the car, that felt amazing.” Hope said with a frown.

“I’ll never regret being with you, Hope. But I wasn’t wearing a condom.” Ryan explained while starting to pull out of Hope, which she quickly stopped from happening.

“I don’t care.” Hope replied as she pushed herself up onto her elbows and shifted her hips against his.

“Hope...” Ryan groaned.

“We’re both adults, Ryan. If we want to have unprotected sex, we can.”

Pulling Hope up so that she was sitting up fully, Ryan moved them so that he was laying down and Hope was straddling his lap. Running his hands up and down Hope’s thighs, Ryan bucked his hips up, causing Hope to groan.

“You feel...” Ryan started but was cut off by a tapping on the window.

Glancing up, Hope’s eyes went wide even as her face paled. Scrambling to button her blouse back up and to get off of Ryan’s dick, Hope moved as close to the passenger side door as she could while Ryan tucked his dick away and rolled the window down.

“Sheriff Gerard.” Ryan said evenly.

“Ryan... Hope... what the hell do you think you’re doing? If anyone else had been close enough to respond to the call of suspicious behavior, and if I hadn’t recognized the description of the car, you two would be getting arrested for public indecency.” Marcel said with a sigh.

“You’re letting us off with a warning, Uncle Marcel?” Hope asked.

“I’m not going to arrest my niece and Goddaughter on a first infraction. Just don’t have sex in the car while out and about again.” Marcel warned before turning to walk back to his squad car.

“Thank you Sheriff. It won’t happen again.” Ryan called out the window before pulling Hope into his side. “Ready to head home, Princess?” He asked while turning to face Hope and leaning in to nibble on Hope’s neck, just below her ear.

“You heard my Uncle, Ry... we need to head home... not have sex again.” Hope said with a moan.

“I know. That doesn’t mean I can’t make you cum again.” Ryan said as his right hand landed on Hope’s thighs and nudged them apart.

Once he saw that Hope’s uncle had pulled away, Ryan backed out of where he had parked and continued driving home. As he drove, Ryan kept one hand on the steering wheel while his other hand was between Hope’s legs, fingering her. He knew it was dangerous, but now that they had admitted, to a degree, how they felt about each other, he couldn’t, now more than ever, keep his hands to himself. And it helped that Hope didn’t seem to mind his actions. And as they were pulling into the garage, Ryan pressed his thumb against Hope’s clit and had her cumming on his hand. Once she came down from her high, Hope pulled Ryan in for a quick kiss before straightening her clothes and climbing over Ryan’s lap to climb out of the car.

“I’m going to take a shower before starting on my homework. Would you like to join me?” Hope asked over her shoulder with an innocent smile.

“Is that a serious question? Or a rhetorical one?” Ryan inquired as he grabbed his stuff and followed Hope into the house.

“You choose, babe.” Hope replied with a wink.


	11. Chapter 11

Ryan’s choice had been simple. He was not going to pass up his first chance at taking a shower with Hope. And since she was asking him to join her, Ryan knew that she didn’t mind him taking one with her. And after so many times over the last two or so years of imagining what it would be like, having the other with them was a surreal moment for both Hope and Ryan. And while their time in the shower was amazing, it was as they were laying in Hope’s bed after yet another round of love making, cuddling naked under the sheets that furthered their relationship and deepened their connection. With one leg draped over Ryan’s and her head resting on his chest, Hope drew random patterns on Ryan’s chest and contemplated how to phrase the question she wanted to ask. She was curious about Ryan’s previous relationships, and how exactly his relationship with his high school girlfriend had ended, but she had no idea how to go about asking about it without making him upset.

“Ryan?” Hope asked softly.

“Yes, Princess?”

“I was wondering... and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to... but how did your relationship end with your first girlfriend?” Hope inquired and instantly regretting asking as Ryan tensed. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. You don’t have to tell me.” She said.

“No... it’s just that... it didn’t end because we wanted it to. She um, she passed away.” Ryan replied slowly.

“Oh, Ryan, I’m so sorry. I... I didn’t know...” Hope said as she sat up on her hip and rested her hand over Ryan’s heart. “You don’t have to talk about it. Losing someone you love is never easy.” She added while leaning down and pressing a kiss to the corner of Ryan’s mouth.

“It’ll always be a part of me, something that made me even more of the man that I am today. You deserve to know. I don’t want to keep anything from you anymore than I already have, Hope.” Ryan responded as he pulled Hope back down and tucked her head under his chin.

“Are you sure? Because it doesn’t have to be _right now_.”

“I’m sure. I want you to know.”

Hope nodded against Ryan’s chest, waiting for him to start. Even though she had never gotten the chance to meet her mom, Hope found it hard to talk about her at times, given that it was when her mom was giving birth to her that she passed away, so Hope couldn’t imagine what Ryan must be feeling. So she waited patiently. Just from him having tensed up when she first asked, and despite him saying that he wanted her to know what happened, Hope got the sense that Ryan wasn’t ready to talk about it. So she wasn’t going to push him any more than she already had. But as the minutes of silence went on, and Hope started to think that Ryan had changed his mind about telling her, he tightened his grip around her body and let out a sigh.

“Her name was Nicole. We first met in Freshman year of high school. We ended up being partnered together for a project in our English class where we had to rewrite a scene from a Shakespeare play of our choosing and make the scene the opposite genre of what the play was, and then preform the scene in front of the class. I think we chose a scene from Hamlet.” Ryan explained and Hope smiled.

“You had to make it a comedy?” Hope asked.

“We did. And we did a pretty good job, in my opinion. And we became friends after that. The other friends that I had at the time would poke fun at her. The way she talked, the way she dressed. Needless to say, I wasn’t friends with them for much longer. I refused to be friends with a group of guys that made of fun of such a sweet girl.”

“You’ve always been a good guy, haven’t you?”

“I’ve always tried to be a good guy. My father... he wasn’t. He cheated on my mom constantly, and she left him when I was still young, and he was barely there for me. Then he met Seylah and got her pregnant with Landon, and when Landon was around 4, my father took off himself. I vowed at that point, even though I was only 10 years old, that I would never be like him. That I would respect women, no matter what. That I wouldn’t allow myself to eventually become a dead beat father like he was. So I couldn’t allow myself, in good conscious, to continue being friends with those guys. After I stopped being friends with them, it was just me and Nicole. And I was okay with that.” Ryan explained before swallowing thickly and taking a deep breath.

“Do you want to take a break? Grab something to eat?” Hope asked softly. “Or something to drink.” She added.

“Yeah, that would be good.” Ryan agreed with a nod.

Pushing the covers off of their bodies, Ryan pulled his jeans on and handed his shirt to Hope. Once she had slipped the soft material over her head, Hope moved across the bed on her knees and wrapped her arms around Ryan’s waist while resting her chin on his shoulder. When Hope turned and pressed a kiss to his cheek, Ryan let out a deep sigh and leaned back against her before turning his own head to face her and gave Hope a light kiss. Placing his hands over Hope’s, Ryan lifted on of Hope’s hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles before standing up and linking his fingers with Hope’s and leading her towards the door.

As they headed downstairs, Hope kept squeezing Ryan’s hand lightly to remind him that she was there for him. After every squeeze, Ryan would return it with a squeeze of his own until he just turned to face Hope when he reached the bottom step and pulled her in for a kiss. There was something different about this kiss, that much Hope could tell, but she couldn’t figure out what about it made it so different than all of the other ones that they had shared over the last week and a half. As he kissed her, however, Ryan kept his hands completely still as he held her hips close to him. Hope simply wrapped her arms around Ryan’s neck and lightly played the hair at the base of his neck. When the kiss broke, Hope saw tears in Ryan’s eyes and she pulled him in for a tight hug, whispering words of reassuring that she was there for him, no matter what.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

Once they had gotten something to drink- tea for Ryan and hot chocolate for Hope- they returned to her room and Hope curled up against Ryan’s side, letting him continue with his story when he was ready. Before he did though, Ryan rolled them over so that Hope was beneath him and pressed his lips to hers again. But this time, his hands wandered. Up her outer thighs, pushing the hem of his shift up her torso so that his fingertips ghosted over her ribs, and finally pulling the shirt over her head before discarding it and molding her breasts in his hands. When he broke the kiss to stare down at her, Ryan gave Hope a small smile as she worked on getting his jeans off. Once they were both naked again, Hope rolled them back over so that she was straddling Ryan’s lap and slowly sank down onto his dick, letting out a soft moan as he filled her.

While their first few rounds of love making that afternoon had been about finding out what the other enjoyed, this one was different. This one was slower and more sensual. It wasn’t about reaching a release; it was about showing the other that they were in this whole thing together. That they accepted each other with whatever bad things had happened in their pasts. But even with that, when Ryan spilled his cum into Hope’s womb, he felt a small part of his fragilely pieced together broken heart get glued back into place. And once Hope collapsed on top of him, Ryan pressed a kiss to the top of her head and held her close, knowing that he would be able to continue his story of his first love.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

“How long were you and Nicole friends before you started dating?” Hope asked softly.

“We started dating at the end of Sophomore year. There wasn’t much that we could go out and do, since neither of us had a job at that point, and neither of us could drive, but we made it work. I would show up at her house every Saturday morning, and we would either go on a hike, or have a picnic at the park. We found small and simple things to do every weekend that didn’t require having to drive somewhere or didn’t require much money. But we didn’t need anything fancy or over the top. As long as we were together, we were happy.” Ryan explained.

“You... you loved her, didn’t you?” Hope questioned while blinking back tears.

“I did. She was the first person that loved me unconditionally. She was the first person that treated me like _I_ was a person. Not just the son of the man who left Seylah from his first marriage. Not the spare mouth that needed to be fed. I loved her, and she loved me.” Ryan replied with a nod while rubbing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “She was my first love.” He added.

“But not your only love?” Hope inquired.

“That’s a dangerous question to ask me right now, Princess.” Ryan muttered.

“Oh... OH!” Hope said as her cheeks heated up and she buried her face in his chest.

“But no, she is not the only girl that has held my heart.” Ryan said with a half-smile. “We were happy, and her parents approved of us being together. When I would get into arguments with Seylah, I would go over to Nicole’s house, and her parents would let me sleep on the couch. When I didn’t feel accepted in my own home, I felt accepted there. But what Nicole and I had... it wasn’t meant to last.” He said and Hope glanced up to see tears falling from Ryan’s eyes, which she brushed away with her thumb.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ryan. Just take all the time you need.” Hope whispered as she rolled over to grab her hot chocolate.

“The first year that we were together was amazing. But at the end of our Junior year, we got some bad news. She had been getting sick a lot over the last couple months of school. And then we found out that she had cancer. Her parents were both working as much as they could to cover the costs of all of the medical bills, but it wasn’t enough. My dad had left behind a car for me, so I got my license, and I started working as much as I could to help out. I made sure that I was always able to get her to her doctor’s appointments. But it was only a matter of time.” Ryan said with a shuddering breath while pulling Hope back into his side.

“I’m so sorry, Ryan.” Hope whispered.

“You would have been around 12 at the time, Hope. Even if we had known each other then, there wouldn’t have been anything that you could have done to help save her.” Ryan retorted shortly.

“I can still be sorry that you had to lose someone you loved, Ryan.” Hope replied, taken aback by his tone.

“I know... I just... so many people emptily said that they were sorry when she first past that I got defensive about it. It was a knee jerk reaction to question the sincerity. I’m sorry, Hope.”

Hope stayed silently. She was starting to truly question if asking Ryan about his first girlfriend had been a good idea, because it was making her question who Ryan cared about more... her, or his first girlfriend. And she couldn’t help feeling like the answer was the latter. Which was something she prayed wasn’t true. She didn’t want to belittle what Ryan felt for Nicole, but she just wanted to know that, if nothing else, his feelings for her paralleled the other girl.

“What are you thinking?” Ryan asked as he tilted his head to the side to meet her gaze while running his fingers through Hope’s hair.

“Something that’s unfair to everyone involved.” Hope mumbled.

“Can you tell me?” Ryan questioned.

“It really is unfair and selfish of me to be thinking in the first place, so I don’t think telling you is a good idea.” Hope replied. “I don’t want you to hate me for thinking what I’m thinking.” She added.

“Believe me, Princess, the only thing that could even remotely make me hate you would be if you ever believed anything that Landon said about me. And even then, I wouldn’t hate you. I would be hurt, but I wouldn’t truly hate you.” Ryan said as he tilted Hope’s head up by her chin. “Please tell me what you’re thinking.”

“You know that I need to be guarded with my heart, right?” Hope asked, and when Ryan nodded, continued. “Listening to you talk about Nicole... I can’t help thinking that maybe you felt stronger for her than you do about me. That you’re just with me until a more suitable option becomes available.” She explained, moving her gaze away from his.

“God, Hope... why would you think I would hate you for that?” Ryan asked.

“Because it’s selfish.” Hope replied.

“No it’s not. And for the record, you are the best thing in my life. Yes, I loved Nicole, but like I said, she’s not the only girl that’s held my heart. You ensnared it years ago and haven’t given it back since. Please don’t ever belittle your importance to me.”

“But...”

“No, Hope. No ‘buts’. You are the most important person in my life. More so than anyone else ever has been, even Nicole. But that does not lessen the love that I had for her, or the impact that she had on my life. Everything that she and I went through helped shape me into the man that I am today.”

Hope nodded as tears filled her eyes. But after that, both of them remained quiet. So quiet that they both ended up falling asleep. When Hope opened her eyes an hour or so later, she was alone in bed and found Ryan sitting at her desk, his back to her, going through something that Hope couldn’t see. Climbing out of bed, Hope made her way over to Ryan and draped her arms over his shoulder while pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“How long have you been awake?” Hope asked.

“About half an hour. Long enough to go out to the storage space and find this.” Ryan said, motioning to the photo album that was laying open on the desk.

“You still have stuff that belonged to Nicole?” Hope questioned, unsure of how she felt about that knowledge.

“Just this photo album. It was the only thing that was completely _ours_. Her parents donated the rest of her stuff. But I wanted to show this to you.” Ryan replied.

After pulling Hope into his lap, Ryan continued telling her about Nicole. About how during their Senior year they knew things most likely wouldn’t be going in their favor, so they tried to do everything that they could. That Ryan wanted to give her as many life experiences as he could before it was too late. And that, while there were some things that he wasn’t able to do for her, he didn’t regret their time together, or the lengths he had gone to for her. Because he had help.

“There was this little girl. She couldn’t have been more than 10-12 years old. When Nicole was bedridden in the hospital, this little girl would show up at least every other day, if not every day, to read to the younger kids, and play with the ones that were strong enough to do so. Since Nicole was only 17 at the time, she was in the pediatrics’ ward, and when this little girl would visit the sick kids, she would occasionally visit the older kids. Nicole took a liking to her, and so did I. Wherever she went, she radiated this bright light, and put a smile on everyone’s face. I didn’t know what her name was, and honestly, I still don’t know what her name was. I called her Candystriper, even though she definitely wasn’t old enough to be an official volunteer.” Ryan explained.

“Is this her?” Hope asked, pointing to a picture of Ryan, Nicole and a younger girl.

“Yeah. Why? Do you know who she is?” Ryan questioned.

“Pretty well, actually. And so do you.” Hope commented while biting her lip.

“Hope...”

“That’s me as a kid, Ryan.”

Ryan stared up at Hope, a look of pure shock written on his face. His eyes kept darting from the woman on his lap to the picture of the little girl with him and Nicole. The longer he looked between the two, the more he started kicking himself for not recognizing Hope as being his favorite Little Candystriper. He kicked himself for not realizing that the woman he was falling in love with now, was the same little girl that helped him through the last few months of Nicole’s life. He kicked himself for not realizing that Hope had always been selfless, even at 12 years old, and had helped him decorate a small unused room at the hospital to throw Nicole a Prom when it became clear to them that she wouldn’t live long enough to make it to their high school’s Prom; and not the spoiled rich girl that he assumed she was when he had seen her with her family at the restaurant before they had become friends. That Hope was the one friend that he had after Nicole passed away just hours after he had given her his grandmother’s engagement ring, asking her to marry him.

“Why didn’t I see you after the funeral?” Ryan asked in a small voice as he stared at the picture.

“You weren’t the only one that didn’t know my name. I didn’t know yours either, Ryan. Like you calling me ‘Candystriper’, I called you ‘Nicole’s Boyfriend’. I heard her parents mention your name at the funeral, but before I could go over to you, my dad and I had to leave. I didn’t put it together that the Ryan I had befriended 8 years ago was the same Ryan I literally ran into 2 years ago.” Hope replied while taking his face into her hands and lifting his head up so that she could look into his eyes. “If I had known who you were, you would have been a more prominent fixture in my life for a lot longer than you have been.” She said before leaning down and pressing her lips to hers.

“You have no idea how much I wanted to find my favorite Little Candystiper to thank her- thank _you_ \- for everything you did. You cared enough to dedicate your time to help me decorate for the mini-Prom. You sat with me after she passed away while I cried and didn’t judge me for crying. You were a true friend to me and Nicole, and you didn’t even know us.” Ryan said with a sigh against Hopes lips.

“I, um, I did more than that, Ryan.” Hope whispered.

“What do you mean?”

“I picked out all of the decorations. Being 12, my dad paid for all of the decorations, but I picked everything out. And the day she passed away... I had been on my way to hang out with you both, and I overheard her parents talking about all of the medical bills, and the cost of the funeral. And then I saw you sitting on the floor in the hallway, crying, and I knew that I had to do something more to help you all.” Hope said before blinking back tears. “Ryan... I asked my dad to pay off the outstanding medical bills, and to pay for Nicole’s funeral. You two were my friends too, and she deserved to have a funeral. I know it wasn’t a big funeral, but it was something.”

Ryan pressed his lips to Hope’s shoulder before lifting her up and carrying her back to the bed and maneuvering them back under the covers before pulling Hope back against his chest and draping an arm across her waist.

“Are you mad?” Hope whispered.

“How could I be mad at the girl that didn’t have to do everything that you did, for doing what you _could_ to make me and Nicole happy back then? You were an important part of my happiness during the bleakest part of my life, and you’re even more of an important part of my happiness now.” Ryan responded. “But now I have to find a way to thank you properly.” He added in a low voice, directly in Hope’s ear.

“I didn’t do what I did in search of thanks, Ryan. I did it because I wanted my friends to happy.”

“I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that I _want_ to find a way to thank you properly.”

As Ryan spoke, his hand roamed over Hope’s stomach and up her side before cupping her breast and pinching her nipple, causing Hope to gasp.


	12. Chapter 12

When Klaus got home, he felt a shift in the household. With a smirk, and a muttered ‘finally’, he headed to his office to do some paperwork, only to see a missed call and message on the phone. Noting that the call was from his best friend, Klaus picked up the phone and called Marcel back.

“Marcellus, to what do I owe the pleasure of you having called me at home when you knew perfectly well that I was at work?” Klaus asked.

“ **Just giving you a heads up. I responded to a call about suspicious activity involving your car.** ” Marcel explained and Klaus heard him stand up and close his office door.

“Ryan has been using my car as Seylah and Landon are not to know where he’s been staying.” Klaus commented with a smirk.

“ **I figured that out when I found him and Hope having sex in the front seat.** ” Marcel retorted.

“Were they now? It’s about damn time.” Klaus said with a chuckle.

“ **Klaus, you are the only father that I know of who’s happy that his only daughter was caught having sex in public. Hell, you’re the only father that I know of who’s happy that his only daughter is having sex, period.** ” Marcel commented.

“You know perfectly well that Hope and Ryan have been dancing around each other for years, Marcellus. It was only a matter of time that they got together.” Klaus replied.

“ **That’s not the point here, Klaus. If anyone else on the force had been closer to where the call originated from, you would have been receiving a call to come bail your daughter and Ryan out of a holding cell for public indecency.** ” Marcel said.

“Were they parked on the side of the road?” Klaus asked.

“ **No. They were parked on a mostly secluded side street.** ” Marcel replied.

“From the street, could it easily be identified as to what they were doing?” Klaus inquired.

“ **No.** ”

“Then they wouldn’t have been arrested for public indecency. But thank you for the heads up, Marcellus.”

“ **Uh huh.** ”

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

Hope rolled onto her back and gave Ryan a small smile. As much as she wanted him, she didn’t want their relationship to turn into one that was strictly sexually based and she moved his hand from her breast. Leaning up she pressed her lips to his before sitting up fully and pushing the covers off of them.

“Done with me already, Princess?” Ryan asked with a half smirk pulling at his lips.

“Never. But I want us to pace ourselves. I don’t want sex to be the only thing that we do when we’re alone together.” Hope replied. “But, if I’m your Princess, does that make you my Prince?” She asked.

“Only if you want me to be.” Ryan replied as he watched Hope pull some clothes on.

“I very much would like you to be my Prince.” Hope said with a nod.

“Where are you going, Hope?”

“Time has gone by a lot faster than I thought it had, and my dad is probably home by now. So we should probably let him know that we’re dating.”

“Oh, crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I had been meaning to ask Klaus for permission to date you before I asked you to be my girlfriend. There was just never a good chance to ask him over the last week. And then with your drawing class today... I wasn’t going let myself chicken out again.”

“I’m sure he’d be okay with us just _telling_ him that we’re dating.”

“Nope. I’m still gonna ask him.”

With a playful roll of her eyes, Hope pulled her door open to find her father standing there, hand raised to knock. Locking eyes with Klaus, Hope tried to keep a straight face as Ryan scrambled behind her to get a shirt on. She could see the same restraint in her father’s facial features, but when Ryan placed his hands on Hope’s waist, both father and daughter lost it and Ryan buried his face in Hope’s hair.

“Before either of you try and hide what you’ve been doing all afternoon, Marcel gave me a call, and gave me a heads up as to what he caught you two doing earlier.” Klaus said and Hope’s eyes went wide.

“That wasn’t _all_ that we were doing today.” Ryan commented.

“I don’t need specifics, Ryan.” Klaus said.

“Oh, no, Dad... that’s not what he meant.” Hope said quickly. “Ryan was telling me about his first girlfriend.” She added. “Do you, um, remember the friends that I made at the hospital 8 years ago? My friend Nicole and her boyfriend?” She asked.

“I do.” Klaus replied with a nod.

“That was Ryan and his girlfriend.” Hope explained.

“So you two have known each other for 8 years?” Klaus questioned and when he got matching nods, his smile faltered.

“Klaus, Sir, please before you start to rethink your willingness to let me be around Hope, I promise you, my feelings for her back then were strictly platonic, and strictly that of gratitude for being a friend to me and Nicole in Nicole’s last months. What I feel for her now only started once we bumped into each other a couple years ago.” Ryan explained quickly.

“For the sake of my daughter’s happiness, you better pray that you are telling me the truth, Ryan.” Klaus said slowly.

“DAD!” Hope exclaimed.

“It is, Sir. I promise you that. I was in no position back then to think of anyone, especially a girl who was 12 years old, in any way that was inappropriate. My heart, at the time, belonged solely to Nicole, and when she passed away, I was too overwhelmed with.” Ryan said.

Klaus leveled the younger man with a hard stare which Ryan met easily, his hold on Hope’s hips tightening marginally. Partly out of fear of losing her, and partly out of possession. The entire time that her father and boyfriend were staring each other down, Hope kept looking between them, trying to figure out who would break first. And then Klaus’ gaze moved from Ryan down to Hope’s and he let out a sigh.

“Okay. I believe you. I do sympathize with you Ryan. It is not easy to grieve a loved one. And I’m sorry for assuming the worst, as you’ve done nothing to warrant me thinking that about you.” Klaus said. “Now, what was this I heard about you wanting to ask me something?” He added and Ryan swallowed.

“Given what Sheriff Gerard saw this afternoon, it’s a bit belated, and I had meant to ask you before asking Hope, but with everything that’s happened over the last week, there was never a good time to ask... but I was wondering, Sir, if you would be willing to give me your blessing to date Hope?” Ryan inquired.

“I take it sex wouldn’t have happened between the two of you if you hadn’t said ‘yes’?” Klaus asked, glancing at Hope.

“Probably not. You always raised me to wait for sex until I was in a committed relationship. And with Ryan, I feel like this is definitely a committed relationship.” Hope replied.

“Then yes, Ryan, you have my blessing. But keep in mind that if you hurt my daughter, I will not hesitate in hurting you. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. Now, both of you get dressed, properly. We are celebrating tonight by me taking you both out for dinner.”

“Is that a good idea, Dad?”

“You don’t think it’s a good idea?”

“It’s just that...”

Ryan wrapped his arms completely around Hope’s waist and leaned down to press a kiss to her shoulder.

“Your father wants to treat us to dinner, Princess; why are you arguing?”

“Fine... where are we going?” Hope asked with a sigh.

“I’ve already made a reservation at Josh and Aiden’s.” Klaus replied. “Be ready in 10 minutes.”

With that, Hope and Ryan were left alone again and Hope turned around and started hitting Ryan’s arm.

“Ow! What the hell did I do?” Ryan asked.

“Why did you have to make my dad think you had romantic feelings for me 8 years ago?” Hope asked as she kept swatting at his arm.

“You were the one that told him that we met when you were 12. He just connected the wrong set of dots.” Ryan replied as he grabbed Hope’s wrists lightly before she could swat at him again. “Stop hitting me, Hope.” He added.

Hope let out a huff and pouted up at Ryan. Moving to intertwine his fingers with Hope’s, Ryan pulled her in for a kiss and smiled against her lips.

“Let’s get changed before your dad changes his mind about taking us out for dinner.”

“You really don’t think this is a bad idea?”

“No, I don’t. If you’re father drives, then you two could have picked me up anywhere in town. And with your father’s car parked in the garage, no one will see me get into the car here.”

“Okay... if you’re on board with this idea, then I’ll go along with it.”

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

By the time that the three of them got to the restaurant, it was packed for the night. But as soon as the host, Oliver, saw Klaus, he immediately led them to their reserved table that was for priority guests. It didn’t take long once they were seated for their waiter to come over.

“Okay... catch me up. You two dating now?” Kaleb asked with a smirk.

“You’re our waiter tonight, Kaleb?” Ryan replied with a groan.

“Yep. Boss’s orders.” Kaleb replied with a nod.

“Kaleb, why don’t you just take our order. I’m sure you have other tables than just us to check on.” Klaus said.

“Actually, Mr. Mikaelson, Josh took over my other tables, told me to solely focus on you guys.” Kaleb said. “But I can get you started on something to drink.”

“A bottle of champagne, please.” Klaus said.

“Coming right up.” Kaleb replied. “I want an answer when I get back.” He added with another smirk at Hope and Ryan.

“Great. The twins and MG will know by the end of the night.” Hope muttered as she buried her face in Ryan’s neck.

“Did you think that we were going to be able to keep us a secret from our friends, Princess?” Ryan asked with a raised eyebrow as he draped his arm around her shoulders.

“No... but I thought we would at least get through the first day of us being a couple before we told them.”

As Ryan placed a short kiss to the top of Hope’s head, Klaus simply shook his head at his daughter. While she reminded him of her mother on a daily basis, the way she was acting in that particular moment was very much something that Hayley had done numerous times when they had started dating. A sad smile graced Klaus’ face for a brief moment before Kaleb returned with the requested champagne. Once the drink was poured between the three of them, much to Hope’s denial, given that she wasn’t 21 yet, Kaleb gave his friends an expectant look.

“Well? You two dating now?” He asked.

“Please don’t tell the others. They should hear it from us.” Hope said quickly.

“I make no promises. You know how nosy my girl is.”

As Kaleb walked away from the table, there was a commotion elsewhere in the restaurant that had Hope spinning around before her gaze slowly turned back towards her father. Klaus did a decent job of avoiding his daughter’s glare by nonchalantly perusing the menu.

“Dad.” Hope stated.

“Yes, Sweetheart?” Klaus asked, not looking up.

“How many people did you make a reservation for?”

“Just the 3 of us.”

“Uh huh. So why are mine and Ryan’s friends here?”

“That is not my doing.”

With a sigh, Hope glanced up to the end of the table where Josie, Lizzie and MG all stood. They all looked like a mix between excited and anxious. Then they were pushing Ryan and Hope around the booth so that they could all sit down at the table, and Hope let out a groan. Of course Josh and Aiden would place them at one of the bigger private booths after Klaus made the reservation for 3. Especially with Kaleb working that night, Kaleb had given the others a heads up to come down. Everyone that was important part of her life was way more in on her love life than she would have liked them to be. Her friends were one thing. And her dad was another thing. But to know, or at least suspect, that Josh and Aiden were in the know about hers and Ryan’s “will they, won’t they” relationship, that was a bit too much for her.

“So... did one of you finally grow a pair and ask the other one to be official?” Lizzie asked with a smirk and Hope hid her face in Ryan’s shoulder out of embarrassment as Ryan cleared his throat.

“I did ask her to be my girlfriend.”

“Finally!” Lizzie exclaimed. “Now we can officially go on triple dates.” She added excitedly.

“Liz... why don’t you give them a chance to get settled into the new dynamic of their relationship before you pounce on the subject of triple dates.” Josie said as her eyes slid from her sister to her friend. “Wait... that’s not all that happened, is it?” She asked.

“Now is neither the time, nor the place to be discussing this matter. If you are so inclined to talk about Hope and Ryan’s relationship, please do so in the privacy of either your house or mine. Not in public.” Klaus chided. “With that being said, what has transpired between them today is not why we are out tonight, so if you three don’t mind, I must request that you leave.” He added.

“Of course, Mr. Mikaelson. Sorry for the intrusion.” MG commented with a quick nod before taking Josie’s hand in his and guiding her from the booth, with Lizzie in tow behind her.

“You treating us to dinner tonight _isn’t_ about us getting together?” Hope asked.

“No, it isn’t. I do not blame you for today’s date slipping from your mind, given everything that’s happened over the last week and a half, but today would have been your mother’s birthday, and we always go out for dinner.”

“Are you sure it’s okay that I’m here, Sir?” Ryan asked.

“Absolutely, Ryan. Given yours and Hope’s relationship, Hayley would have wanted you to be here.” Klaus said.

The rest of the dinner went by relatively smoothly. Hope still refused to drink the champagne, other than a sip when they toasted her mother. But there was no talk or fuss over hers and Ryan’s relationship. But once they got home, and she and Ryan were getting ready for bed, Hope broke down. She had held it together for Ryan when he was telling her about Nicole; but now that she remembered that today would have been her mother’s birthday, and that just overall, she had _forgotten_ that it was her mother’s birthday in the first place, had her wrapping her arms around herself as she cried. Hope couldn’t pinpoint how long she had been crying for, or just how soon into her breakdown Ryan had moved her from the floor to the bed, but no matter how she had ended up there, Hope cried herself to sleep, using Ryan’s chest as a pillow, with the covers surrounding her.


	13. Chapter 13

The following morning Hope was jarred awake by a distant pounding on the front door. Glancing at Ryan, he looked just as confused as to what was happening as Hope felt, and after turning to look at the time on her phone, let out a groan and fell back onto the bed. After pulling the covers up to her chin and curling up into Ryan’s side, Hope resumed her previous position of using Ryan’s chest as a pillow in an attempt to go back to sleep. But the pounding on the front door wasn’t stopping and Ryan was slipping out from underneath Hope, tucking the covers around her as he did, to go investigate. Reaching out, Hope grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled him in for a quick, but sleepy, kiss.

“Be careful.” Hope mumbled.

“I will.” Ryan replied.

By the time that Ryan reached the bedroom door, Hope was asleep once again. Seeing how peaceful she looked when asleep, Ryan couldn’t help feeling the overflowing amount of love for Hope that he had yet to fully express to her. Before he could change his mind and just crawl back into bed with her, Ryan slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him and tiptoed to the top of the stairs. He was just about to head down and tell whoever was being annoyingly loud this early in the morning to go away, when Klaus stormed into the foyer and threw the front door open.

“You had better have a good reason for pounding on my front door this bloody early in the morning.” Klaus glowered and Ryan was glad that he hadn’t gone downstairs himself.

“I here to talk to Hope.” Landon said as he folded his arms across his chest.

“That is never happening ever again.” Klaus replied with a growl.

“You can’t stop us. I know she wants me in her life. And she’ll talk to me if you just tell her that I’m here.” Landon said with a smirk.

“You really don’t my daughter very well, do you? You assaulted her last week. Why would she possibly want you in her life after that little stunt?” Klaus questioned, glaring at the little twerp that was standing in front of him.

“Are you sure _you_ know your daughter? She wanted me to kiss her. I know she did. And again, if you just tell her that I’m here, she’ll talk to me, and we can clear all of this up.” Landon replied as he took a step forward to try and cross the threshold.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Klaus asked as he pushed Landon back.

“You’re going to let me in, and then you’re going to go tell Hope that I’m here to talk to her.”

Klaus’ eyes flashed with danger as he grabbed Landon by the collar of his shirt and pulled him away from the house, making sure to close the front door. Once they were halfway down the driveway, Klaus forcefully shoved Landon away from him.

“Let me be very clear about a few things. One, you do **_NOT_** show up at my house, uninvited and unwelcome, making demands of me. Two, you do **_NOT_** get to presume you know what my daughter wants. Three, if you **_EVER_** come anywhere near my daughter again, you will be arrested for harassment. And yes, Hope will back those charges. For now, enjoy being arrested for trespassing.” Klaus said, his voice low and even as Marcel pulled up to the curb and got out of his squad car.

“Everything okay here, Klaus?” Marcel asked.

“Perfect timing, Marcellus. I’d like to file trespassing charges against Landon Kirby. In the past week and half, he has shown up twice without invitation, and got aggressive both times.” Klaus replied, his hard gaze never leaving Landon’s.

“Sure thing.” Marcel said while walking over to Landon. “Landon Kirby, you are under arrest for two counts of trespassing on private property. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you.” Marcel said while cuffing Landon and leading him to the car.

“Marcellus, please swing by the University this afternoon. There is another matter that we need to discuss that pertains to Landon’s recent actions.” Klaus requested.

“I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.” Marcel replied with a nod.

With a nod of his own, Klaus turned around and headed back inside. As soon as the front door was closed behind him, he let out a frustrated sigh and glanced up to the top of the stairs where Ryan was leaning against the railing.

“We need to get Hope to agree to a restraining order.” Klaus commented.

“I full heartedly agree with that. But you know it’ll tear her up inside to do that. No matter how bad things get for Landon, she won’t want to have him kicked out of school by a restraining order.” Ryan replied.

“It’s for her own safety. This is one time that I need my daughter to be selfish and think of herself over someone else.” Klaus said.

“I’ll talk to her about it.” Ryan offered with a nod.

“I need to fill both of you in on what has happened just now, and what I’ve been doing for the last week.” Klaus said.

“Well, she fell back asleep, but I can wake her up if you would like me to.” Ryan commented.

“Please wake her up for breakfast. I’ll explain everything while we eat.” Klaus said before heading towards the kitchen.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

Hope kept the covers wrapped tightly around her body as she laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the muffled sounds of her dad and Ryan talking about Landon. From the frustrated tone of her father’s voice, Hope knew that she couldn’t put off her decision, one way or another, about getting a restraining order against Landon. He was taking things too far now. And there was only so much Ryan and her father and Marcel could do to keep her feeling safe. Hope knew that agreeing to the restraining order would basically be getting Landon kicked out of school, and that it could lead to fully losing Rafael as a friend, but she couldn’t let herself feel bad about that. Rafael had made his choice in being so loyal to Landon, and there was no way that he would be able to be friends with her and Landon if she had a restraining order against Landon.

“Hope?” Ryan called softly as he slipped back into the room.

“I’ll do it.” Hope replied with a sigh as she turned her head to face him. “I’ll get the restraining order against Landon.” She clarified.

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Ryan asked.

“Not entirely, but it needs to be done, doesn’t it?”

“Hope, your father and I just want you to be safe. And at this point, Landon being anywhere near you is threatening your safety. So yes, the restraining order is needed.” Ryan said with a sigh. “And your father said that he needs to fill us in on what he’s been doing for the last week.”

With a nod, Hope sat up and let her hands land in her lap as she looked down. In a second, Ryan was sitting down behind her and pulling Hope back against his chest while wrapping his arms around her. Neither of them said anything as they sat there, just being content in each other’s embrace. As Ryan’s hands settled over Hope’s, he linked their fingers together and lifted them up to press a kiss to the knuckles on both of her hands before letting them rest on her lap.

“Ryan... I don’t just want the restraining order to protect me... I want it to protect everyone I care about... you, Josie, Lizzie, Kaleb, MG, my family... Josh and Aiden... everyone. Is that something that can be done?” Hope asked softly.

“I’m not sure. That would have to be something that we ask your father about.” Ryan whispered. He desperately wished that he could do everything necessary to keep Hope safe, including making sure their friends were safe too, but that wasn’t realistic. “We should head downstairs and eat something.” He added while pressing a kiss to Hope’s temple.

“I don’t feel up to getting out of bed today.” Hope mumbled.

“At least come down and eat. Then I’ll bring you right back upstairs and tuck you back into bed.” Ryan offered.

“Would you be staying with me?”

“Hope...”

“That’s a no.”

“As much as I love the idea of spending the day in bed with you, I can’t keep asking your father to clear my absences with my professors. I don’t want people to start accusing me of getting special treatment from the Dean because I’m dating his daughter. It’s not fair to me, or you. And if those rumors start spreading, it could get really bad for your father, and after everything that’s happened, I don’t want that for any of us.” Ryan explained. “So if I could, I would never leave your side; but when leaving your side means protecting yours and your father’s reputations, then that’s something that I have to do.” He added as he held Hope just a little bit tighter.

“But you’d come straight home after your last class?” Hope asked.

“I have work tonight, Hope.” Ryan replied with a sigh.

“So you would be leaving me all day?”

“Your dad said he wanted you to be selfish... but this is not what he meant. Hope, I need to work. I want to be able to give you a good life in the long run. I can’t do that if I don’t work, because if I don’t work, I can’t save money.”

Hope let out a huff as she pulled away from Ryan’s embrace and moved to lay down next to him; curling into ball with her back to him. With a sigh, Ryan ran his hands over his face before placing a hand on Hope’s shoulder and leaning down to press a light kiss to her cheek.

“Please don’t be upset, Princess. Everything I’m doing, and subsequently not being able to do, is for you. For us.”

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

When Ryan walked into the kitchen alone, Klaus gave him a confused look.

“Where’s Hope?” Klaus asked.

“She didn’t feel like getting out of bed today.” Ryan replied with a sigh. “But she’s willing to get the restraining order against Landon. She does, however, want it protect everyone she cares about. Me, our friends, you and the rest of you family, as well as Josh and Aiden.” He explained.

“We would need to get 5 different restraining orders, for everyone she wants protected to be protected.” Klaus responded.

“Why 5?”

“The family and the two of us would be covered by being related to, and living in the same household, as Hope. Lizzie and Josie, along with Caroline and Alaric, would be covered with one; Kaleb and his family with one; MG and his family with another; and then Josh and Aiden.” Klaus explained. “But they would all have to agree to it, and have a valid reason to request one, since Landon has not done anything towards them to get to Hope.” He added.

“Would saying they are her family as well work?” Ryan asked.

“Marcellus could make a case for it, but it’s a long shot. And there’s no telling what Elijah would say on the matter. Knowing my brother, he would be happy with just those of blood relation to Hope being protected.” Klaus said with a frown. “Cutting out Freya’s wife, Marcellus, you. As well as your friends.”

“Hope wouldn’t like that.”

“No, she wouldn’t. Which is why she would have to be the one that talks to Elijah. She would insist on seeing the restraining order being written up and being there every step of the way to ensure that Elijah doesn’t try to change it after the fact.”

“Does your brother not see those that have married into the family as being part of the family?”

“He has been known to say that anyone who is not of Mikaelson blood has to prove themselves as being good enough to be considered family. But I reckon that if he were to be in a relationship, that woman would be immediately accepted as family.”

“So Elijah is a hypocrite, got it.”

“Ryan, we need to sit Hope down and let her know that we will do what we can to make sure your friends, Josh and Aiden are all protected, but that it might not work, given that Landon hasn’t gone after them.” Klaus said as he turned his gaze in the direction of Hope’s room.

“Well, she’s a bit upset with me right now.” Ryan admitted.

“What did you do?” Klaus asked.

“I tried to get her to at least come down and eat something, and told her that as soon as she did, I would bring her back upstairs to tuck her back into bed. She wanted me to stay with her, but I explained how bad things would be for all of us if you continued to clear my absences with my professors. And then when she asked if I would be coming straight home after class, I reminded her that I have work tonight. She doesn’t want to get out of bed, but if I want any chance of giving her a good life down the road, I need to leave her side from time to time so that I can finish school and save money.” Ryan explained.

“For what it’s worth, Ryan, I appreciate the sentiment of you wanting to give my daughter a good life.” Klaus commented with a nod.

“What should I do? I want her to be happy, but what do I do when making her happy in the present could cause her pain or harm in the future?”

“You need to find a balance. Figure out which decisions are better for an outcome now, versus which are better for an outcome later. Don’t just always choose the short term solution, and don’t always choose the long term solution. That’s something that both you and Hope need to work on if your relationship is to work out, which I have faith that it will.”

“Thank you Klaus. You’re support and acceptance of mine and Hope’s relationship means a great deal to me.”

“Ever since you came into her life the second time, you’ve been nothing but good to her. Treated her with respect, and like a person. Even when there were others around, you looked out for her, without being pushy about it. She had a couple crushes growing up, but none of them made her eyes light up the way they do when you’re around. Hope’s feelings for you run very deep, Ryan. And gauging from you trying to plan ahead to be able to provide her with a good life, I’d say that your feelings for her run just as deep.”

Ryan nodded. He hadn’t expressed to Hope just how deeply his feelings for her ran, so he wasn’t about to voice them out loud to Klaus, but the older male was right in saying that Ryan’s feelings ran extremely deep. And in the entire time that Ryan had known the other man, Ryan never knew Klaus to misjudge a person’s character. So he wasn’t surprised at how easily Klaus had read his feelings for Hope. As they went about eating in silence, Ryan thought about what he needed to say or do to get Hope to see that him going to school and to work was a decision that was better for both of them in the long run. Before he could figure something out, however, he felt a petite hand run through his hair.

“You got out of bed.” Ryan commented with a sigh as he lightly pulled Hope into his lap.

“I didn’t know if I would be seeing you again before you got off of work tonight, and I didn’t want to miss apologizing to you before you left.” Hope replied. “I’m sorry for acting like a selfish, spoiled brat. I just don’t like the idea of us being away from each other before the restraining order is in place.” She added with a sigh.

“You know that we won’t let anything happen to you again, right Sweetheart? You’ve agreed to get one, so we’ll contact Elijah before I head to work. You will need to do the talking though. You know that he won’t hesitate to leave out non-blood related family members.” Klaus inquired.

“I know.” Hope replied with a sigh as she wrapped an arm around Ryan’s shoulders and he pressed a kiss to her neck.

Klaus watched Hope and Ryan in silence. Hope still seemed deflated from the night before, but she had at least gotten out of bed to make sure she caught Ryan before he left so that she could apologize for her behavior. And while he didn’t want to force Hope to go to school, he liked the idea of letting her stay home alone even less.

“Hope, I want you to go get dressed. I’ll talk to your professors about bringing your classwork to my office, and you’ll spend the day with me.” Klaus said.

“But I...” Hope started.

“No, Hope. No buts on this. I don’t believe that Marcellus will be able to hold Landon long, and I don’t want you home alone if he comes back. At least if you stay with me today, you’ll be at school, and I’ll know you’re safe. Not to mention that it will allow Ryan to go to his classes without worrying about you.”

“Okay. Fine.” Hope replied with a huff.

As Hope stood up, Ryan caught her by the wrist and kissed the back of her hand. With a small smile, Hope gave Ryan’s hand a squeeze and headed upstairs to change. Turning his attention back to Klaus once Hope was out of the kitchen, Ryan gave him a nod of thanks, which Klaus returned as they both finished eating.


	14. Chapter 14

Spending the day with her father didn’t end up being nearly as boring as Hope had originally thought it would be when he told her that’s what would be happening. It had been... well, Hope couldn’t remember how long it had been since she had spent the day with her father. Which meant that it was long overdue. Especially given how close she and her father had always been. So while she sat at the table facing the window in his office, doing her classwork, and her father sat at his desk, Hope realized just how much she had missed this.

“Hey, Dad, since we had to leave a message for Uncle Elijah, do you think he’ll actually call back, or do you think he’ll just show up here?” Hope asked as she turned in her chair and stretched.

“I honestly can’t say, Sweetheart. I do not keep tabs on your uncle’s case load, so I do not know which option would suit him better.” Klaus replied.

“I kind of hope that he shows up here. I think I’ll have a better chance at convincing him to have the restraining order cover everyone that I want if he can actually see me.” Hope commented.

“Hope, Sweetheart, please understand that with just one restraining order, at most, that I know of, you can protect the family, myself and Ryan. To protect your friends, they would all have to agree to, and request, restraining orders themselves. There is only so much pull that Marcellus would have on this matter, and then the rest would be up to Elijah.” Klaus said with a sigh.

“I know... you mentioned that in the car. But if I at least mention it to Uncle Elijah, then maybe he could at least get the other ones started while I talk to my friends.” Hope responded.

“We’ll see what Elijah says when we hear back from him.” Klaus said with a sigh before his phone rang. “This is Dean Mikaelson.”

“ **He made bail. Please tell me Hope is somewhere safe, because this kid is furious.** ” Marcel said.

“She’s right here with me, Marcellus. Are you on your way over?” Klaus asked.

“ **I’ll be there in 15 minutes. And I’ve already dispatched a unit to your house, just in case he decides to head there.** ” Marcel replied.

“Thank you, Marcellus. I’ll let my assistant know that you’ll be here soon and to just let you right in.”

After hanging up the phone, Klaus let out a sigh and glanced over at Hope who was giving him a curious look. He held up a hand to hold off whatever question or questions Hope was about to ask and headed out to speak briefly with his assistant. When he came back into the office, Hope didn’t give him a chance to stop her questions.

“Why is Uncle Marcel coming here? What happened with Landon? We need to get Ryan here. I knew we shouldn’t be apart.” Hope rambled.

“Marcellus is on his way so that I can give him everything on what Landon did to you last week. My assistant is already sending for Ryan. And as for Landon... he somehow managed to make bail from this morning. Marcellus already has officers going over to the house. Everything is going to be okay, Hope. I promise you that.”

Hope nodded once as her eyes started to sting with tears and she wrapped her arms around herself. When that action didn’t help, Hope pulled her legs up onto the chair, wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her cheek on the top of her knees. Hating seeing his daughter looking so vulnerable, Klaus moved over to lean against the table and pulled Hope into his side, rubbing her back to soothe her. They stayed like that until Ryan rushed into the office, and then Klaus moved away from his daughter so that Ryan could pull Hope into a tight hug. As Klaus sat down at his desk, he could hear Ryan muttering something to Hope, but couldn’t make out the exact words. From where he was sitting, Klaus could see Hope relax slightly, so he figured whatever Ryan was saying was helping. It wasn’t much later that Marcel strode into the office, closing and locking the door behind him as he did. The conversation that was about to transpire couldn’t allow anyone barging into the office and interrupting.

“First things first, how the hell was he able to make bail?” Klaus asked.

“I don’t know.” Marcel replied with a shrug.

“Our father. It’s the only way. There’s no way that Seylah would have been able to make up even half of whatever bail was set at in just a few hours. The only way that Landon got out was if Seylah managed to get ahold of my father.” Ryan explained with a frown.

“I thought he walked out on you guys when you were 10?” Hope asked.

“He did... but Landon was always his favorite son.” Ryan replied as his frown deepened.

“Hey, you’re my favorite.” Hope whispered and Ryan pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I’ll have a couple of officers look into him. Now... onto why you asked me to stop by Klaus; other than trespassing, what else has he done?” Marcel asked.

“He assaulted Hope last week.” Klaus replied, pulling a stack of folders out of a locked drawer and handing them over.

“Why am I just now hearing about this? This should have been brought to my attention when it happened.” Marcel inquired as he flipped through everything.

“I made an administrative decision, Marcellus. Based on the multitude of cameras we have in each hallway; I was able to talk to each person that was present when Landon assaulted Hope. I wanted to get everyone’s account of the incident before I brought it to you. The only two accounts that you don’t have there are Hope and Ryan’s.” Klaus explained.

“Klaus, you do realize that I’m still going to have to contact each and every one of these students, right? Get each of their statements again.”

“Of course. Start with them.”

Hope’s eyes widened as she realized that her father was pointing to her and Ryan. Glancing at everyone else in the room, Hope sighed.

“I was leaving class and was about to go meet up with Ryan, but Landon stopped me before I could get very far. It was actually the second time that day that he cornered me outside one of my classes. He had accused me earlier that day of lying about how I spent my weekend, which, technically I did, but only because I was protecting Ryan, but Landon didn’t need to know that. When he cornered me that second time, he wanted to make sure I didn’t still think he accused me of lying, but I told him that’s exactly what he had done and went to walk around him. At some point during the brief conversation, I saw Ryan over Landon’s shoulder, so when I went to walk around Landon, it was to follow the direction that Ryan had been going. But Landon grabbed my arm. I told him to let me go, twice, and instead of doing that, he kissed me. I didn’t have a chance to react because Dad and Ryan pulled us apart.” Hope explained. “I was too disgusted and sick over the entire thing to even think about going to you, Uncle Marcel. The next morning, when the memories of what he had done came back, I got physically sick.”

“What about you, Ryan?” Marcel asked.

“Hope and I had made plans for that afternoon, so after class, I was making my way over to her classroom to meet her, and that’s when I saw her talking to Landon. The look that Hope gave me over Landon’s shoulder had me concerned, and I came to get Klaus. When I came to get him, Landon hadn’t grabbed Hope’s arm yet, but by the time Klaus and I got back, not only was Landon still gripping Hope’s arm, but it was clear that the kiss was being forced. Hope’s body was rigid, and by then... well, I knew how Hope reacts to a kiss that she wants to be happening, and what I saw wasn’t it. So I grabbed Landon and pulled him away from her, getting him in a headlock while Klaus pulled Hope back.” Ryan replied.

“Was there any thing that could have been construed as you having wanted something more than friendship with Landon?” Marcel asked.

“I don’t think so. I always treat all of my friends the same way. I never showed any of them more attention than any of the others. Other than Ryan. I tried to hide my feelings for him, but everyone else knew. Lizzie, Josie, Kaleb, MG, Dad... hell, even Josh and Aiden seemed to know. Rafael even knew.” Hope replied.

“May I offer a possibility as to what might be going on?” Klaus asked.

“Please do, Klaus.” Marcel replied.

“I talked to Keelin, reached out to her about the way that Landon has been acting, based on what I’ve witnessed, and what Hope and Ryan have told me, and she believes, but isn’t 100% certain, that he’s suffering from erotomania.” Klaus commented.

“What’s that?” Hope asked.

“It’s when someone, more times than not a female of lower standing, strongly believes that someone of higher standing, is in love with them. In this case, Landon’s firm belief that you wanted him to kiss you; that if I went to get you this morning to talk to him, that you would want to talk to him; seeing your natural empathy and kindness towards everyone around you as only being directed towards him. If he is, in fact, suffering from this, then he would see these as ways of you showing him you love him.” Klaus explained.

“Hope, I think he might be right. All of Landon’s behavior lately attests to this.” Ryan said softly.

“What will happen if this theory that you and Aunt Keelin have goes unchecked?” Hope asked.

“There’s no telling how bad things will get. But chances are that Landon could turn violent. That his delusions about the perceived love that you have for him could start to corrupt others. That he could lash out at anyone he sees as standing in his way.”

“So you and Ryan would be in the most danger.” Hope commented.

“Myself, Ryan, your friends. Landon hasn’t tried going against any of them to get to you, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t if this goes unchecked.” Klaus said.

“I don’t see him agreeing to getting checked out, Klaus.” Marcel said.

“Which is why we need to convince Seylah to do it.” Ryan replied with a sigh. “She’s the only one that could convince him to go through with the tests; although I’m not really sure how something like this is tested.”

No one knew what to say after that, because frankly, none of them knew how someone could run tests to determine if Landon was actually suffering from this. After a few minutes of silence, Marcel cleared his throat.

“I’m going to take these files down to the station. If one of you can figure out more about this erotomania thing, call me and let me know. In the meantime, I think it would be safer for all three of you if you stay somewhere else for the time being, just until we’re able to get a better handle on what we’re dealing with here.” Marcel said.

“Thank you, Marcellus, we will do just that.” Klaus replied and with a nod, Marcel left the office.

“Are we really going to find somewhere else to stay, Dad?” Hope asked.

“Yes, we are. I will not put you in danger, Hope. He has shown up at our house twice now and has gotten aggressive both times. And neither Ryan nor I can be at the house 24/7. If we stay somewhere else for now, he has a less likely chance of being able to get to you.”

Hope nodded before wrapping her arms tightly around Ryan’s waist and burying her face in his chest. She didn’t like the idea of going to stay somewhere else, and thus multiplying the number of people that might be in danger by a lot, but her father was determined to do whatever needed to be done to keep her safe. And it was for the fact alone that Hope didn’t voice her discontent on the idea. Well, that, and the fact that Ryan was on board with the idea. And if both Ryan and her father were agreeing with each other, then there had to be something else about the idea that they saw that she wasn’t seeing.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

That night, Hope was crawling into a bed that was so unfamiliar that she wasn’t entirely sure that she would be able to get any sleep. The only thing that made it better was that Ryan was pulling her into his embrace and kissing her neck. And then Ryan’s hands were roaming over her body, nothing to insistent, which Hope appreciated, but the hand that had been resting on her stomach when he had pulled her into him did travel over her hip and along her thigh.

“I’ve missed you, Princess.” Ryan muttered before pressing a kiss to her neck, just behind her ear.

“We’ve been together most of the day.” Hope murmured.

“Not alone. I wasn’t about to do what I’ve been thinking about doing in front of your father and uncle.” Ryan replied as he gently nudged her legs apart as Hope rolled onto her back.

“And what have you been thinking of doing, Ryan?” Hope asked as she ran her hands up Ryan’s chest and around his neck to curl the hair at the base of his neck around her finger.

“We spent a good majority of yesterday afternoon making love to each other, Princess. And I have not been able to get your gorgeous body off of my mind all day. Being buried deep inside you... the thought of doing that again made it very difficult to concentrate during my classes today.” Ryan explained. “And don’t even get me started on how much I couldn’t stop thinking about you during work tonight.” He added as he moved to hover over Hope.

“Well... we’re alone now. And I could definitely use some loving after the stressful day that we’ve both had.” Hope replied as she pulled him down for a deep kiss that had her swiping her tongue across his lips.

Everything after that seemed to go into overdrive. One second Hope was slipping her tongue into Ryan’s mouth and the next her and Ryan’s clothes were thrown about their hotel room. Rolling them over so that she was straddling Ryan’s lap, Hope was thankful that her father had gotten them a separate room than him. Whether it was because he figured they would end up having sex, or just to give them some privacy, Hope didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. Bracing herself on Ryan’s chest, Hope slowly sank down on his dick, letting out a shuddering breath once she had taken him completely in.

“How do you want to do this, Princess? Hard and fast, or...” Ryan asked.

“I just want you to make love to me, Ryan Clarke.” Hope replied as a moan.

“That I can do.”

Rolling them back over, Ryan ran his hands up and down Hope’s outer thighs before lifting them up to wrap around his waist. Leaning down to capture her lips in another kiss, he started moving slowly, wanting to prolong this as much as he could. Unfortunately, having been thinking about sex with Hope all day had Ryan extremely close from the second she had taken him all the way in. Reaching between their bodies, Ryan rubbed at Hope’s clit. He refused to reach his own release before Hope was at least close to hers, if not already cumming herself. When Hope let out a soft moan as Ryan came into contact with her clit, Ryan knew she was at least close.

“Ryan?” Hope asked in a small voice.

“Do you want to stop?” Ryan responded, pulling back to look into her eyes.

“God no... I just... I have to tell you something, but I don’t want you to get freaked out, and I’m not even entirely sure _what_ the best way to say what I need to say is.” Hope said as she gripped Ryan’s shoulders and lifted her hips off the bed.

“Whatever it is, Princess, I would prefer you just be blunt about it.” Ryan replied through a groan.

“I know that we just became boyfriend and girlfriend yesterday... but I think I’ve felt this way for a while now, so it doesn’t _feel_ too soon...” Hope started before taking a deep breath and moving her hands from Ryan’s shoulders to his face. “I love you Ryan. I think I started to fall in love with you the day we ran into each other on campus.” She said. “And if you aren’t able to, or ready, to say it back, I understand... although if you don’t say _something_ I’ll think I just blew the best thing that’s ever happened in my life... so...” She trailed off, biting her lower lip.

“Hope Andrea Mikaelson, I love you so much. After Nicole, I almost gave up on love, but after being around you these last few years, I’m glad that I didn’t.” Ryan said. “You asked me yesterday if Nicole had been my only love, and I told you it was a dangerous question to ask. I’ve known that I love you for quite a while. I just didn’t say it yesterday because I didn’t want to scare _you_ off. I am the luckiest guy in the world to have your love, Hope. And I promise that I will do everything I can, every day, to be worthy of that love, and showing you just how much I love you.”


	15. Chapter 15

The following morning had Hope and Ryan waking up, both feeling better than either of them had in the last couple of weeks. They had told the other how they truly felt and had spent the night making love to each other. But their good mood was quickly tainted by someone walking into the room without having knocked or been invited. It was all they could do to just barely pull the sheets over their naked bodies before the intruder turned the corner from around the bathroom. Hope locked eyes with her uncle for a few brief, tense moments before Elijah’s hard gaze shifted to Ryan.

“Get out of bed, this instant, Hope Andrea.” Elijah said sternly.

“No.” Hope replied with a glare.

“That was not a request, young lady. It was an order.” Elijah said taking a step towards the bed.

“You are not her father, Elijah. You have no right to make demands or orders of her after barging into hers and Ryan’s hotel room, uninvited.” Klaus commented coldly from the door.

“Niklaus...” Elijah started slowly.

“No, Elijah. Hope is _my_ daughter. Not yours. You do not have any say in how she lives her life, and you do not get to dictate it. Nor do you have the right to barge in here without having first knocked and been invited in.” Klaus said, his voice dangerously low.

“Why are you allowing your daughter to associate with someone who is beneath her?” Elijah asked.

“Technically I was beneath _him_ most of the night.” Hope muttered and Ryan let out a burst of laughter.

Elijah’s sharp glare had Ryan shutting up immediately and pulling Hope into his chest. The movement didn’t escape Elijah’s gaze and he narrowed his eyes at the young couple. Hope met her uncle’s gaze with a leveled one, daring him to try something with her father standing in the doorway.

“Dad, you can come in long enough to get Uncle Elijah out. And then Ryan and I will meet both of you in your room once we’ve showered and gotten dressed.” Hope commented, her eyes never leaving Elijah’s, even as Ryan moved his lips over her shoulder and neck.

Elijah looked between his niece and his brother, but with Hope staring him down, almost daring him to take another step towards the bed, and Klaus glaring daggers at him, Elijah knew he wasn’t going to win this battle. With one more look of disgust in Ryan’s direction, he left the room. Hope let out a sigh of relief and leaned back into Ryan’s embrace.

“Both of you get dressed and meet us in my room.” Klaus commented from his place at the door before pulling it closed.

“How long do you think we have before your father comes back?” Ryan asked as he moved his hands under the sheets and cupped Hope’s breasts.

“Not very long. He’ll probably give us 10 minutes at the most.” Hope replied with a pout over her shoulder.

“You do only have 1 class today, and that’s tonight. We could spend the day in bed today until we have to go to class.” Ryan offered, lightly sucking on Hope’s neck.

“ _He’ll_ be in class tonight, won’t he?” Hope asked bitterly.

“Since he’s doing everything he can to see you, yes, he probably will be. But we can try and get to class early and talk to Vardemus. See if he’ll let you sit somewhere else until we get everything with the restraining order sorted out.” Ryan replied with a sigh. “Somewhere that I can easily get to your side if he tries something.” He added.

“Do you think Vardemus will go for that? Or would we have to explain the whole situation to him?” Hope questioned as she pushed the covers back and climbed out of bed.

“We should be good with just explaining the basics to him. Let him know that you’re having issues with Landon and would like to sit as far away from him as you can and be closer to me.”

Hope hummed at the suggestion as she got dressed. It wasn’t until she sat down on the edge of the bed to slip her boots on and Ryan pulled her towards him and pressed a hard kiss to her lips that Hope realized the outfit she was wearing was the same one she had been wearing two weeks prior when everything between her and Ryan had shifted. The first night he truly teased her with his touch. The first time she truly got her hopes up that there might possibly be something more between her and Ryan. Before she could do much to react, Ryan had Hope on her back and was running a hand up her thigh, under her skirt and to the apex of her legs.

“Would you consider not wearing any panties today, Princess?” Ryan asked against Hope’s lips as he started to pull the material down her legs.

“That depends... would you be okay with the TA of my class tonight seeing my bare pussy if I were to just happen to part my legs during class while sitting across from him?” Hope asked as she bit Ryan’s lower lip.

“See now, that depends as well. What would this TA you speak of look like?” Ryan inquired, continuing to remove Hope’s panties.

“Tall, boyish good looks, gorgeous brown eyes, a pair of sinfully pouty lips, adorable curly hair. Lean build, but strong in his own way.” Hope replied as she shifted beneath him. “He’s a little bit older, but rarely acts like it.”

“He sounds dreamy. If I didn’t already have the most beautifully gorgeous woman in front of me at this very moment.” Ryan commented before leaning down and giving Hope a quick kiss before finally removing her panties.

“Then that would mean that I’m dating a narcissist.” Hope replied as she watched with hooded eyes as Ryan stuffed her panties into his pocket. “A very sexy narcissist. Because goddamn, Ryan, knowing that you have my panties in your pocket is going to make it very difficult to concentrate today.”

“That’s the point, Princess. I want you to be thinking of me.” Ryan replied with a smirk before he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Hope’s lips while settling between her legs.

“We don’t have time, Ry. But I promise, as soon as we are done talking to my dad and uncle, we can come right back here and have some fun.” Hope said. “Just make sure those are completely hidden. Elijah is already pissed that he barged in here to find us in bed together, but I really don’t want him to try and maim you for having my panties in your pocket.”

“Are you sure you want them hidden? Because I was thinking of showing them off.” Ryan replied, his face completely neutral.

“Do that, and you won’t get anything from me until further notice.” Hope warned.

“Hope, Ryan, time’s up.” Klaus said through the door before Ryan could respond.

With a sigh, Ryan pushed Hope’s panties deeper into his pocket so that they would be hidden from view and pressed a kiss to Hope’s neck. They quickly finished getting ready and headed to Klaus’ room next door. The door was slightly propped open, and they could hear a heat conversation taking place from within. From the sounds of it, Hope was going to have to do a lot of convincing to get Elijah to agree to getting the restraining orders in place.

**Legacies – Erotomania – Legacies**

“Have you lost your damn mind, Niklaus? A restraining order? Not even _one_ restraining order, but _five_ of them! And all of them against one kid!” Elijah exclaimed as he paced back and forth in front of his younger brother.

“He assaulted Hope last week, Elijah. And he’s shown up at the house twice now and gotten aggressive when I told him that he doesn’t have my permission to date Hope.” Klaus explained, completely unfazed by his brother’s rising anger. It was a switch to the usual dynamic between them. “And as far as the number of restraining orders, Hope wants to make sure he can’t hurt her friends. She still has to talk to them about it, and she understands that they might not go for it, since he hasn’t tried anything against any of them. But she is adamant about the restraining order that protects herself and the **_entire_** family. Which, despite your arguments to the contrary, does include Keelin, Marcel and Ryan.”

“I can bend on including Keelin and Marcel, but that boy that Hope had in her bed... he is not a part of this family.” Elijah snapped.

“He’s my family, Uncle Elijah. And if you continue to try and deny me the happiness that Ryan brings me, then you lose me. Because I will no longer consider _you_ to be family.” Hope said with a low voice as she folded her arms across her chest and Ryan lightly rubbed her back.

“He’s not worth your devotion, Hope.” Elijah argued.

“That’s not your decision to make. And for the record, he’s more than worthy of my **_love_**.” Hope snapped.

“Hope...” Ryan said slowly.

“I’m not going to hide how I feel about you, Ryan. We told each other how we felt about each other last night. And if my Uncle knows what’s best for him, he won’t continue to belittle that.” Hope said, her voice dripping with a hint of venom as she turned from Ryan to Elijah, giving her uncle a hard and leveled stare.

“You listen to me, Hope Andrea...” Elijah started.

“Just stop it Elijah!” Hope snapped. “You are supposed to love me unconditionally. You’re my uncle. You’re the one who named me for fuck’s sake. You were always the noble one of the family. Yet here you are, judging the man that I love and saying that he isn’t worth anything. That he’s beneath me. And I’m sick and tired of it. I love Ryan with my entire being. And he loves me. Dad has accepted Ryan into the family without question and has allowed us to begin dating. And instead of turning your ire on the guy who assaulted me, and is harassing me, you’re focusing on the man that I love. You are the best lawyer that we know, and we are asking you, as your family, to do this one thing for us. We never turn to you for anything that is a small grievance, so you should be smart enough to realize that we wouldn’t be asking you to file for a restraining order against Landon if there wasn’t a reason behind it.”

“Breathe, Princess.” Ryan murmured into Hope’s ear as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

“Hope makes a very good point, Brother. We don’t abuse our family’s connections. So why are you acting like this favor it just a big inconvenience for you to do for your family?” Klaus asked.

“Dad had him arrested for 2 counts of trespassing yesterday morning and by yesterday afternoon, Landon had been released on bail. Uncle Marcel was so sure that Landon would immediately go to our house, that he sent a unit there, and suggested we stay elsewhere.” Hope commented.

“And I heard from Marcellus this morning. Landon went to the house and camped out in front of it in his mother’s car.” Klaus added.

“Mr. Mikaelson, I get that you don’t think much of me, and frankly, I don’t care. But I want you to know that Hope’s safety and happiness is my number one concern. And while it isn’t my place to say this, I’m going to anyway. Your reluctance to give Hope and Klaus what they are asking for by filing a restraining order against my half-brother just shows me that I care more about Hope’s safety than you do.” Ryan said. “When Landon assaulted Hope last week, Klaus and I pulled Landon away from Hope. Since then, I have spent every moment that I can by Hope’s side so that he can’t get to her again. But that won’t stop him. He is disillusioned enough to believe that Hope loves him. Despite her blatantly telling him that she’s not interested, he’s misconstrued every instance of her being friendly as her showing him that she loves him. My half-brother will not stop until he either gets what he wants, or he gets stopped by something more permanent. So why are you willing to sacrifice your only niece’s safety? I might not have the best family experiences, but even I know that’s not how you keep your family safe.”

Elijah glared at Ryan the entire time that the younger male was speaking. When he was sure that Ryan was done, Elijah turned to Klaus.

“And this is who you allow to date your daughter?” Elijah asked.

“Yes. And let me tell you why, Brother. In the entire time that Ryan has been in Hope’s life, he has done nothing but look out for her. Even when their friends were around, Ryan continued to make sure that Hope was okay; that she was happy. He has always gone out of his way to ensure she gets home safely when they are out with their friends. And I have never seen my daughter’s face light up nearly as much with anyone else as it does when she’s with Ryan. And- I’m sorry if this is something you haven’t had a chance to discuss properly with Hope, Ryan- he is doing everything that he can so that he has a chance of giving Hope a good life later on. He puts her safety and happiness ahead of her own. Something that, as her family, you should be doing as well. Which, as Ryan has just explained, you aren’t doing.” Klaus said. “And as Hope pointed out, that makes Ryan more of her family than you at the moment.” He added. “Now... are you going to help us, or are you going to force our hand, and have us go with another lawyer?” He asked.

“Let me talk to Marcellus and see what we can do. The family one will be covered, as for the other ones, I make no promises.” Elijah said with a sigh.

“The **_entire_** family, Uncle Elijah. Aunt Keelin, Uncle Marcel, **_and_** Ryan included. And I want to see it once it’s written up, as well as be there from the time it’s printed, to the time it is handed to the judge for signing.” Hope insisted.

“Of course.” Elijah agreed with a stiff nod. “I will call once I’ve talked to Marcellus.” He added before he headed towards the door. “Let me know once you’ve talked to your friends so that I know if I need to work up a pitch for getting them restraining orders as well.” He added as he passed Hope and Ryan, and with that, he was gone.

“I’d like the two of you to stay here at the hotel until you have to go to class tonight.” Klaus commented.

“That’s what we were planning on doing, anyway.” Hope said with a nod.

“And before I head to the University, we all need to get something to eat for breakfast.” Klaus added.

“Why don’t we just order room service?” Hope asked.

“There’s a private dining room upstairs for the...” Klaus trailed off.

“It’s okay Klaus. Just say it. There’s a private dining room upstairs for the wealthier guests.” Ryan said with a smile. “I know that I’m not as well off as your family, but I’m not ashamed of that. I have a plan in place to get there.” He adds.

“After breakfast, we need to talk about this plan of yours more in depth.” Hope commented.

“Of course, Princess.” Ryan said with a nod and a kiss to her forehead.

“Ryan, I know that you keep saying we’ve done more than enough for you, but if you ever need anything, financially, please don’t hesitate to ask.” Klaus said.

“While I hope it never comes to that, Klaus, I will keep that in mind.” Ryan said.

With a nod of understanding between the two men, Klaus grabbed his wallet and led the other two out of the room and towards the elevator. Once they were seated in the dining room, Hope took Ryan’s hand in hers and laced their fingers together. She was curious about the plan that her boyfriend had to give them a good life, but she held her tongue. It was a conversation that needed to be had in private, between just the two of them. But her father didn’t seem to agree with Hope’s internal thoughts and brought it up after they had placed their order.

“Ryan, I know that you mentioned wanting to save money and work as much as possible while going to school so that you can give Hope a good life, but I’m curious if there is more to your plan?” Klaus said.

“Specifically, no. You know that I’m majoring in History, but I have no idea what I want to do with my degree. Which isn’t the best place to be in when I’m as close to graduating as I am. I’m open to suggestions, though. I know this might be odd to say, but you are the closest thing I have to a father figure, and I appreciate any guidance you can offer.” Ryan replied, moving the hand that was linked with Hope’s to around her shoulder and placing his other hand on Hope’s thigh.

“There are a couple of obvious options. Although I’m not sure if they appeal to you at all.” Klaus commented.

“I’ve toyed with the idea of teaching History, but Alaric seems miserable with teaching, so I’m not sure if that’s because he’s been doing it for so long, or because it seemed like the easiest path to take.” Ryan said.

“It might not mean much, but I think you’d make an amazing teacher, babe.” Hope commented softly.

“Hey, don’t underestimate the weight of which your thoughts and suggestions mean to me, Princess. They mean more to me than I can put into words.” Ryan said before pressing a kiss to Hope’s temple.

“If you are unsure about teaching, there’s always other options that you can look into.” Klaus said.

“To be perfectly honest, at this moment, I care more about the present and the future than I do about the past.” Ryan admitted as he lightly squeezed Hope’s thigh. “So I will look into other options over the weekend.”

“Before we completely drop the conversation, I’ve been meaning to look into having someone research our family’s history, and the history of the town, and to write it all down. Would that be something of interest to you?” Klaus asked.

“Dad, are you sure you want to do that?” Hope questioned.

“If it’s something that interests him, then I think that Ryan should know exactly what he’s getting into by being a part of the family. And your uncle abandoned his ambition to look into our family’s history in favor of creating an empire of night clubs and bars.” Klaus explained.

“Would this be a paid thing?” Ryan asked slowly.

“If you would like it to be, we can work something out.” Klaus replied with a nod.

“But it doesn’t have to be?”

“I will not insist on paying you if it makes you uncomfortable, Ryan. But I do believe that you should get to know the family’s history. At this point in life, I don’t see any of my siblings having kids of their own, so as much as I hate to admit it, because I don’t want to put such a burden on either of you, the two of you are very much the family’s future.”

“Seriously Dad? 2 days into dating, and you’re basically telling Ryan and I to get pregnant!?” Hope asked in a tense whisper.

“I’m not saying immediately, Hope. Just, eventually.” Klaus replied, Hope’s motion of placing a hand on her stomach not going unnoticed.

“I don’t think I’m not ready for kids.” Hope whispered.

“It’s okay, Princess. We don’t have to think about that right now.” Ryan replied while tilting Hope’s head up and pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

Once their food arrived, the three ate in silence, but Hope’s head was spinning. She knew that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ryan, and she agreed with her father on not seeing any of her aunts or uncles having kids of their own, but that put a lot of pressure on her to eventually have kids to continue the family line. And she had barely given any thought to whether she wanted kids. She just hoped that if she ended up not wanting kids, that neither her father nor Ryan would be upset.


End file.
